Felix Doubront is among three more Red Sox players to go on the DL this week. (Photo by Kelly O’Connor via SittingStill.smugmug.com)
The Boston Red Sox had not lost 10 games in a row since 1994, but the three consecutive sweeps by the hand of the Detroit Tigers, Toronto Blue Jays and the Tamp Bay Rays sent the Red Sox on a tailspin as they are now 20-29 on the season. The squad is eight games back of the AL East-leading Blue Jays, which is dead last in the division as well as the fourth worst record in MLB this season.
With the amount of injuries this past week or so as well as poor performances from the pitching and offense, the Red Sox will have a tough task over the next four months to get back into the race to defend their World Series title.
Injury Bug
With Mike Napoli now on the 15-day DL retroactive to May 24 with a sprained left ring finger, the Red Sox now have three of their Opening Day starters on the disabled list. Shane Victorino is also on the shelf as he was placed their Saturday after reinjuring his right hamstring on Friday night.
To go along with Will Middlebrooks getting hurt a little over a week ago, Felix Doubront hurt his throwing shoulder and had to leave Tuesday’s contest with shoulder fatigue. He had been 2-4 with a 5.12 ERA this season before being placed in the DL.
Brandon Workman took his place in the rotation and gave up three runs in five innings of work. The 25-year-old will likely stay in the rotation for the time being until Doubront returns from his injury.
With David Ortiz also dealing with some soreness, it might be a tough go of it for the time being. However, there are still over 100 games to get back into the division in which no one seems to want to pull away and win.
All these injuries piling up is nothing new for the Red Sox, but the team was able to push through some tough injuries in 2013 to pull off a World Series victory.
Losing Streak Reaches Double Digits
In all three games of the Rays series, the Boston Red had a shot to win, but found a different way to lose each night, The toughest loss came Saturday night as they held a 5-0 on David Price in the first inning, but the Rays tallied to tie it 5-5 in the fifth and eventually won 6-5 in the 15th thanks to a miscue between Andrew Miller and the middle infielders on a ball back to the pitcher. Miller sailed the ball into center field to allow the runner to score from second as no one was there to cover second base.
On Sunday, the Red Sox trailed 3-1 in the top of the seventh and Jonny Gomes ripped a two-run shot to tie the game of Joel Peralta. The Rays would once again rally with five runs in the seventh, including a three-run shot from Sean Rodriguez. Things would get a bit chippy as Yunel Escobar ran for third base with two outs after the game was out of hand at 8-3. Gomes would run in from left and would push Escobar after he was yapping at he Red Sox dugout. Gomes, Rodriguez and Escobar would eventually get tossed from the game.
The stretch over the past week and a half has put a strain on the Red Sox as well as the fans, but maybe this fight will bring this team closer together. Sure, it might not be the team that won the World Series last year, but it definitely isn’t a team that will stay in the cellar for the rest of the season.
Going Forward
The Boston Red Sox have seven games in seven days this week. The first four are a home-and-home series with the Atlanta Braves with two at Turner Field and then two at Fenway Park. The Rays then come to Boston for a three-game set to close out the weekend.
Prediction: 5-2; the Red Sox may be struggling to score runs, but 10 runs in the last two games has been a promising signs. The Braves can’t score and the Red Sox failures at home will eventually level out. This is the week the Red Sox start to right the ship and end this long losing streak.