Ortiz Hits 400th, Sox Lose 40th

The Red Sox went 7-2 on their homestand. And then went to the West Coast to play two of the worst teams in the AL. And they went 2-5, including a 3 game sweep at the hand of the Oakland Athletics. And so ends a 16 game stretch against inferior opponents that I felt the Sox could take advantage of. Instead, they went 9-7.

The pitching has been fine (apart from Matsuzaka's horror show). As it was yesterday. Aaron Cook went a very respectable 6 innings, allowing 3 runs. That's not great, but it gave the Sox a chance to win.

A chance they didn't take advantage of yesterday, nor have they taken advantage of on this road trip. They scored 14 runs in 7 games. That's 2 runs per game if your nursing a firework hangover.

This came after scoring 69 runs in 9 games (7.67 per game).

The only thing consistent about the Red Sox offense has been their inconsistency.

David Ortiz hit his 400th homerun. It was a solo homerun. His 22nd of the season. He's on pace for over 40 and will thankfully not be taking part in the Homerun Derby. He's been the most consistent and by far most prolific member of the Red Sox offense.

Maybe things will improve when Ellsbury returns. Maybe not. We're just slightly over halfway through the season and the Sox are on pace for 84 wins. They win 7 of 9, then lose 5 of 7. All against mediocre and poor opponents.

They have a 4 game homestand before the All-Star break. The Yankees are in town starting Friday, then a doubleheader Saturday, and a game Sunday night.

This series is an opportunity to reclaim ground in the divisional race. Or to be knocked out of it completely.

Josh Beckett opens the series for the Sox (why does that give me a bad feeling?). He opposes Hiroki Kuroda. In June he was 4-1 with a 1.98 ERA. This could be difficult for the Sox.

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