How Low Can It Go?

Usually, Opening Day at Fenway is a time for celebrating a new season and the coming of spring, but losing the first six games on the road has dampened the spirits of the fans considerably. In the Cleveland series, all three starters pitched well enough to win but the offense was atrocious as the Sox’ hitters made all three Tribe starters look like the second coming of Bob Feller. It’s the worst start by a Red Sox team since 1945 and all of those high expectations are in the waste basket. There has been a lot of talk about trying to pinpoint the reasons why the team has faltered so badly. Look no further than the lack of execution on offense. Prior to Friday’s game, Dennys Reyes was DFA’d (no shock there) and Felix Doubront was recalled from Pawtucket. Matt Albers was also put on the DL and former Yankee Alfredo Aceves was called up as well.

…Manny retired today, in a surprising announcement as it appeared as if he was getting out one step ahead of MLB’s steroid police (again). Manny got off to a very rough start with the Rays and, who knows, maybe another suspension was in the offing. Manny’s time in Boston was a mixture of brilliance and bad behavior. But this guy could hit a baseball. It was kind of sad to see him retire on the low.

Game 7 v. NY Yankees (4/8/11):

Opening Day in Boston was filled with the usual pomp and circumstance, replete with a military band and a fly over. In honor of his debut 50 years ago, Yaz threw out the first pitch to a huge ovation from the overflow crowd. Why they played “Oh Happy Day” by the Edwin Hawkins Singers is anyone’s guess, but it’s a great tune nonetheless.

John Lackey started, looking to rebound from his disastrous start last week in Texas where his pitches were whacked around with impunity. Lackey thought he struck out Gardner leading off but the ump had other ideas and Gardner walked. With two outs, A-Rod walked and Robinson Cano doubled to the triangle in center and both runners scored easily and the Yanks took a quick 2-0 lead. Here we go again. Phil Hughes started for the Yanks (like Lackey he had a rough first outing as well) and Pedroia took a hanging curve ball into the first row of the Monster Seats to cut the Yanks’ lead to 2-1. Granderson doubled with one out in the second and scored on Gardner’s double to left. It looked as though Crawford played a shallow left field and was out of position. In the bottom of the second, the Sox put a big, ugly crooked number up on the board to take a 6-3 lead. Drew singled up the middle leading off and Saltalamacchia (1-14 so far) singled into the hole in right. Ellsbury looped a single to right to load the bases. Drew scored on Scutaro’s 6-5 force. With two outs, Pedroia lined a single to center, driving in two and taking second on the throw. Adrian Gonzalez then singled into the hole at short, scoring Pedroia on a close play. After Youkilis walked, Ortiz singled scoring Gonzalez but Youkilis was caught in a rundown. In the third, Lackey hit A-Rod on the elbow and Cano doubled down the leftfield line. Swisher grounded out to short and A-Rod came in the back door to make it 6-4. Hughes was finished after only two innings as Bartolo Colon entered in relief. In the fourth, Gardner tripled down the rightfield line and Jeter singled to center to make it 6-5. A-Rod then hit a long solo homer to left leading off the fifth to tie the score. In the bottom of the fifth, Youkilis walked and Ortiz reached on Teixeira’s fielding error. With two outs, Saltalamacchia doubled off the leftfield wall, scoring Youkilis with the go-ahead run. Lackey was finished after five and Alfredo Aceves came on in relief. Aceves pitched a quiet sixth and Bobby Jenks came on in the seventh and only allowed one base runner. Gonzalez bunted his way aboard in the bottom of the seventh. After Colon was relieved by Logan, Ortiz doubled off the wall in left. Drew then singled to right, driving in both runners to make it 9-6, Sox. Daniel Bard retired the side in order (which was a relief) and Papelbon struck out two to pick up his first save of the year.

Game 8 v. NY Yankees (4/9/11):

It was a beautiful day at Fenway on Saturday, but Clay Buchholz and the bullpen struggled as the Yanks won 9-4, spinning the Sox record further down to 1-7. Rookie Ivan Nova started for the Yanks and Ortiz had a chance with two runners aboard in the first, but he popped out to left. The Yanks made the Sox pay for failing to execute in the second when A-Rod reached on Lowrie’s fielding error and Cano doubled off the centerfield wall. A-Rod came in on Swisher’s ground out and Chavez doubled in Cano, 2-0 Yanks. The Sox put two more runners on in the second but Crawford grounded into a 6-5 force. In the third, Pedroia doubled down the line in left and scored on Youkilis’ grounder to short. Granderson walked leading off the fourth, Chavez hit another double off the wall and everyone scored on Russell Martin’s homer into the Monster Seats, 5-1 Yanks. It was a hanging curveball that broke right over the heart of the plate. Buchholz was pulled with two outs in the fourth (8H, 4ER, 3BB, 2K, 92P) in favor of Felix Doubront. The Sox came back in the bottom of the fourth to score three times to make it 5-4 as Drew walked and Lowrie singled. Drew scored on Ellsbury’s infield force. Crawford singled to left and Pedroia doubled off the wall in center, scoring Ellsbury and Crawford. It was the only inning in which the Sox executed well with runners on base. But the Yanks broke it open in the fifth when Swisher singled leading off and Granderson smoked a two-run homer that curled around Pesky’s Pole to make it 7-4. In the sixth, Cano hit a deep homer to right off of Aceves, he rocked that one. In the seventh, Martin homered again into the Monster Seats off of Aceves. Pedroia doubled for the third time in the bottom of the ninth but Ortiz grounded into a double play to end it and the Yanks came away with the 9-4 win. That’s two rough starts in a row for Buchholz (0-2, 7.20 ERA). Do you want to know why they’re 1-7? Today the Sox were 1-16 with RISP. “What we have here is a failure to [execute]”.

Game 9 v. NY Yankees (4/10/11):

Yeah, it’s safe to say that a lot of fans have pushed the panic button only 10 days into a new season. Yesterday, the Yanks simply smoked the Sox’ pitchers and tonight’s Beckett-Sabathia matchup doesn’t have folks feeling all that optimistic. But the show goes on. Prior to the game, the Sox announced that Clay Buchholz received a four-year, $30MM extension, similar to the deal that Jon Lester signed.

A-Rod was given the night off and Eric Chavez started at third for the Yanks. Robinson Cano was moved into the cleanup spot. For the Sox, Ellsbury was scratched and Mike Cameron started in center. Beckett struck out Gardner to start the ballgame. After Jeter grounded out to short, Teixeira was caught looking at a third strike to end the inning. Pedroia looped a single to center in the bottom of the first. With two outs, Youkilis smacked a single to right putting runners on the corners but Ortiz hit a weak grounder to second to squander that chance. Cano led off the second with a long fly to right that Drew chased down near the warning track. After making a terrific 4U3 double play to end the top of the third, Pedroia singled up the middle leading off the bottom half. Gonzalez then ripped a single to right putting runners on the corners and Youkilis followed with a walk. Ortiz grounded into a 4-6-3 double play. Youkilis argued that the runner never touched the bag and the manager came out to protest, to no avail. Mike Cameron reached on an infield hit and Pedroia scored. Drew struck out and the Sox left two more runners on base. In the fourth, Teixeira walked and Cano singled to right with one out. But Beckett came back to strike out Granderson and Swisher grounded out to second. Gonzalez was hit by a pitch on the left hand leading off the fifth and he was wincing in pain heading down the first base line. By the bottom of the sixth, Sabathia was over 100 pitches as Scutaro and Pedroia reached on singles. After Gonzalez walked to load the bases, Girardi came calling for the baseball and handed things over to Joba Chamberlain, who got Youkilis on a grounder to third. On to the seventh, where Ortiz and Drew walked and Varitek followed with a single. Finally, someone executed with RISP! Scutaro doubled to left, scoring Ortiz and Drew. That was it for Big Joba as lefty Boone Logan entered in relief. Pedroia walked with two outs to load the bases but Gonzalez popped out to left. Through eight innings, Beckett was immense, allowing only two hits and striking out ten. It was like the old Big Bad Ass Beckett out there, aggressively going after hitters and making a loud statement. In the bottom of the eighth, Youkilis walked leading off and scored on Ortiz’ double off the wall in the triangle in deep center. By the time Papelbon entered in the ninth, a light rain had begun to fall. Papelbon struck out Gardner and Teixeira to end the game in thrilling fashion. But the story of this night was Beckett, who was simply awesome and lifted the beleaguered hearts of New Englanders with an overpowering night’s work.