An Ugly Red Sox Effort And Another Injury...Chicago 6 Boston 5

The Boston Red Sox, who lost to the Chicago White Sox Sunday afternoon by a score of 6-5, find themselves in the unenviable position of having to replace 2/5 of their starting rotation. Timmy Wakefield experienced shoulder pain in his last start in Kansas City. That's why he was limited to 81 pitches. He returned to Boston for a cortisone shot and the team hopes he'll be back by September. That's a tough break for the Red Sox, for he had been pitching quite well. Want more bad news for the starting rotation? Unfortunately, you're going to get it. There is no way possible that Clay Buchholz, who looked SO bad in yesterday's loss, can stay in the rotation. He was just plain awful Sunday with erratic control and "hittable in the zone" pitches. To me, it seemed like he was off balance much of the time, almost slanting too far to the left after he released the baseball. The result, as you probably know, was ugly...a 6-5 loss to the White Sox, and this was after Mike Lowell had staked him to a 3-0 first inning lead. I was disgusted. Here's what Mike himself had to say after the game...

"He's not being as efficient as he wants to," Lowell said. "I think his pace of game has to improve. I don't know if he's thinking too much. I'd kind of prefer him to just go up there and fire, because he's got good stuff. I don't know what it is. You root for him, you feel bad. Especially when you spot him a three-run lead before he takes the mound, you kind of want him to hold the fort down."

Peter here, and he sure was unable to do that. Sox manager Terry "Tito" Francona added this when asked about Buchholz' future in the 2008 rotation...

"We haven't talked about it," skipper Terry Francona said. "I mean, we have not talked about that. That's about as honest as I can be. I think more of our energy and thoughts are going into how do we get this kid pitching like we know he can on a consistent basis."

This is me again. I was disgusted...I think Clay needs to go back to the PawSox and work with their pitching coach and come back next year. I know it sounds harsh, but the team has been suffering every fifth day...that cannot continue. So look for two call ups from the Triple A club. It's unfortunate but it's true, and a part of the game of baseball. The toughest part.

Click on the title of this post for all the news about yesterday's debacle and for the latest update on Mr. Knuckleball. And remember, BE WELL.