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.

So That's What Pitching & Defense Look Like

I had an image in my mind of Theo Esptein calling up Larry Lucchino last night to tell him that finally his pitching and defense idea is catching on. Low score games with phenomenal pitching, that's what we've all been counting on and for the last two nights the Red Sox have delivered.

After Clay's stellar outing yesterday, Jon Lester slightly one upped him by having an even better outing (hard to believe, but true). Lester had 11 strikeouts. That's right, 11! He was the ace we all know he is and effectively erased all memory of his previous bad starts.

Let's not forget to give props to both Bard and Papelbon who effectively held on to the 2 run lead and even made it look easy. It's always nice when Pap just does his job without trying to up the ante on excitement.

Darnell McDonald continues to amaze. Count me in the camp that viewed his debut as a fluke but he has more than proved me wrong and, for once, I am happy to say I was wrong. I'm also very happy to see Pedroia back in the 2nd spot in the lineup because for some reason it seems to be making a difference with his hitting. Watching Lowell pinch hit for Ortiz brought up usual mixed feeling for me. I would like to think Big Papi is not finished but it isn't looking so good for him, is it?

As an aside, I don't know if it is his ease at being back in Toronto (although how anyone could feel at ease in the cavernous Rogers Stadium is beyond me) but Marco Scutaro is beginning to show his personality. He exhibited a variety of different faces, tossed his bat and gloves, and even threw his batting helmet down in the dugout. Keep it up Marco!

Now that the Red Sox have swept the Blue Jays (A sweep! Finally!) they head down to Baltimore to show the Orioles that the one win they got on Sunday was an aberration and will not be happening again.

Hooray for Clay!

Clay Buchholz has always struck me as one of the most interesting players on the Red Sox. After having thrown a no hitter in his second major league start he seemed destined for greatness. Unfortunately, he couldn't seem to handle the mental pressure and ended up back down in the minors for a while. I found the story of his quick success and his inability to handle it fascinating, made more so by the fact that he has worked so hard to get over it.

I vividly recall when he was called up last year, on a day in Toronto when Josh Beckett got rocked at Rogers Stadium (sound familiar?) The next day, Clay went on to pitch great and stayed with the Red Sox for the rest of the season. He was somewhat uneven last year. Sometimes watching him was like waiting for a bomb to go off. You could tell by his body language and the look on his face that he was teetering close to losing it, and sometimes he did. But Tito had faith in him and sent him out for the 3rd game of the playoff series against the Angels, a game in which he pitched very well and Tito pulled him out of just in time.

During Spring Training this year the big story was the extra man in the rotation. Would Tim Wakefield or Clay Buchholz be the odd man out? Wakey had a great Spring Training for the msot part, Clay got shelled on more than one occasion. Nonetheless, Wakey got sent to the pen this week and Clay got the spot in the rotation. Last night in Toronto he proved that not only does he deserve it but he can handle the pressure. Clay was dominant. He was brilliant and he was a pleasure to watch. It has been too long so it has been a pleasure to watch one of our starters pitch.

Team Chemistry, You Either Have It or You Don't

Last night's game against the Blue Jays made something abundantly clear. The Red Sox are just about as good as the Blue Jays right now. It was an even match all around. And you know what? That's kind of scary because the Blue Jays don't beat the Devil Rays never mind the Yankees. My opinion is that there is just too much bad blood in the clubhouse these days. Theo Epstein likes to tell us that clubhouse chemistry doesn't matter as much as talent and I can agree that that is the case when a team is so talented that they are winning regularly, but when they aren't they need a lot of good will amongst themselves to get through the hard times. It's time the Red Sox hired one of those team building consultants to work with them. They need to work together to build rafts to and get across the Charles and come up with creative ways to get all of them up onto the Green Monster from the field. Things like that. Any other ideas for team building exercises that would help the Sox?