The Red Sox Continue Their Schizophrenia

I was feeling confident going into the series against the Yankees after sweeping the Angels. After all, we were going up against them with Beckett, Buchholz, and Lester. Sure, we all know the Yankees are good this year and they'd be hard to beat but I thought the chances were good we'd take at least 2 games.

Friday night's game was heart sickening to watch. Beckett started out better than I have seen him since, well, since last August when he stopped pitching like Josh Beckett. Who knows what happened to him out there in the 6th inning but it was painful in the extreme to watch. It was like watching a car accident. You can't look away no matter how much you want to. Hitting 2 Yankees players and hitting Jason Varitek? What was going on with Josh Beckett that night? I am certain beyond a doubt that he didn't hit anyone on purpose but the whole thing was bizarre and painful.

I only caught a couple of innings of Saturday's rain delayed marathon of a game but it was enough to show me that the Red Sox hadn't shown up to play that game either. Clay was average at best and in the end it was an embarrassing rout.

So it was with some trepidation that I sat down to watch Sunday's game. The only thing that kept me from being completely pessimistic was the thought that Jon Lester was pitching and perhaps we would be spared a complete blowout. Well, not only did Jon Lester deliver (because he is a pitching god) but the offense decided to wake up and show the Yankees that they weren't dead after all. It seemed like everyone was in on the act last night (except for Victor Martinez). Jeremy Hermida and his great beard delivered just when we needed it. Scuturo seemed to get on base frequently. Beltre, sporting new glasses, got in some hits. Drew seemed to get a hit every time he was up and even Big Papi got in on it. And of course, the ever reliable Youk and Pedroia (sporting high socks no less) got in some hits as well. The sure sign for me that everything was going well was when the Yanks took Jeter and ARod out of the game because they knew it was already lost.

Now the Blue Jays are coming to town. The Sox swept them in Toronto last time they faced each other so I'm feeling smug. I'll be there on Tuesday and Wednesday. You can find me near the bullpen on Wednesday giving Josh encouragement that those Jays have nothing on him.