To quote Dr. Zachary Smith, “oh the pain, the terrible, terrible pain.” In what is becoming a pattern these days, the Sox do more wrong than right before ultimately suffering death by walk-off to the Rays yesterday.
Getting it out of the way; Jason Johnson had an impressive start, and one that he can build on. That is the good news.
On to the bad. Just taking the game at face value, no team should take a 6-1 lead over Tampa Bay (into any inning) and lose. Without looking any deeper than that, we know we have a problem. The additional issue we have right now is not simply that the Sox did lose that game, its that I am betting no one was terribly surprised by that outcome.
That the bullpen is god-awful is not news to anyone. Over the past 30 days only one middle reliever has an ERA under five, and shockingly it’s Seanez. He’s only allowed one run in his past 11 IP (the shock continues). The rest of the troupe (Delcarmen, Hansen, Timlin, Tavarez) are getting hammered, especially Timlin who has given up 4 HRs in 10 2/3 IP en route to an ERA of 5.91 for the last month. In point of fact, the dingers have all come in the last 5 2/3 IP. Mikey has issues.
Delcarmen is the unusual guy in the bunch. In his last 14 IP he has 16K to just 2 BB and a not entirely crappy 1.4 WHIP, but has still been tagged for 8 runs. He has innings where he strikes out the side but gives up 3 hits and two runs to blow the save (Seattle, 7/23). It would appear he is just getting too much of the plate. Of course, a pitcher saying he’s “just getting too much of the plate” is a little like a NASCAR driver saying he’s “just getting too much of the wall”.
On the other end of the spectrum is Tavarez, who is miserable in every category. His 8:6 K:BB rate leads right into his 1.9 WHIP, and his 12 RA in 15 IP have cost the Sox two wins in the last month. He really should not be pitching, unless you have used every other option.
Yet he did last night. Bit of head-scratcher there.
Still, the offense could take a little blame also. Starter JP Howell, he of the ERA above 10, struck out 7 in 4 2/3 innings. Coco struck out in four consecutive at bats. As a team, the Sox left 13 men on base in the game. Corky Miller left seven on himself. One might ask why Corky was allowed to hit with the bases loaded in the 5th, and I suppose the answer “because we were up 5-1 and he slugged .527 in AAA” is an acceptable one. In retrospect, it might be time to think piling on is in order no matter what the score.
The past few weeks have been tough. There are obviously some hurdles in place here with the injuries, but this team needs to be able to put together enough quality performances to win games. If Jason Johnson gives you six innings and lets in just two runs, bettering all predicted outcomes, you need to win that game.
This team has the ability to get to the playoffs, IMO, but I wonder if they have the focus. Perhaps the presence of Big Papi has lulled them into a false sense of security. There isn’t an easy answer, but it’s time for some urgency now. It’s time for some wire-to-wire baseball. It’s time to play nine innings every night like it’s a playoff race – because it’s a playoff race.
I hope yesterday’s game catalyzes this team. Norton’s walk-off was a slap in the face that should make the Sox want to re-assert themselves and start playing for pride. If these guys play to their ability they’ll be there come September, and then we’ll see what we will see.
