Sixes Wild

Daisuke Matsuzaka just couldn't get away from the number six Thursday night at Fenway Park. He walked six, including the bases loaded in the sixth inning. That led to three runs on only two hits for the victorious Chicago White Sox. He threw 109 pitches in only five innings. Not good. Chicago won the game by the score of 4-2. The Red Sox have now lost eight of their past eleven contests. And they had eleven hits, yet they were only able to score two runs. The big hit remains elusive. Frustratingly elusive. Manny hit one to the deepest part of the triangle, but it was hauled in by centerfielder Jerry Owens, There were two men on base at the time. If he had hit it a few feet to the right, toward the bullpen wall, three crooked runs would have been put up on the bottom half of the scoreboard and the home club probably would have won. But it was not to be. Such is life right now in Red Sox Nation.

Josh Beckett will try to take this sad song and make it better tonight, and he'll be facing Jose Contraras, who is having a tough year. The lead over the Yankees stayed at seven games, however, as the Blue Jays rallied to beat them. But the bottom line is this: the Red Sox have to start winning ballgames. NOW!

Click on the title for more on the possibility of Jon Lester taking the place of Julian Tavarez in our embattled rotation, because right now it's almost like forfeiting a game when Tavy starts. And as always, thanks for stopping by. I can't tell you how much more fun it is to write these posts everyday when the Sox are winning, but win or lose, I'm here for you. And a few more big hits would go a long way towards making those future wins possible.