Red Sox almost blow rubber game against Astros

The Red Sox took 2 of 3 from the Astros over the weekend. It could have been a sweep, but the Sox blew Friday night's game. And they almost blew the rubber game on Sunday.

Hanley Ramirez (who didn't know the count at one point during Friday's loss, and stood at home plate after taking ball 4 until the umpire told him he'd walked) hit a 2-run homer on Sunday that won the game. (seriously though, how does a hitter not know the count, especially since there are big green and red lights in left field telling you how many balls and strikes there are?)

Ramirez's homerun came after Alexi Ogando surrendered the lead by allowing 3 runs off a pair of homers in the 7th. For some reason John Farrell didn't take Ogando out, even though this year he has struggled when throwing 25+ pitches (12.1 IP, 12 H, 7 ER in outings of 25+ pitches). Junichi Tazawa was evidently available, as he came in to pitch the 8th. So I really don't know why Farrell left Ogando in, or didn't have someone warming up.

David Ortiz was on base when Hanley homered. He drew a walk. Apart from that his afternoon was quite horrible. He struck out with 2 on and no outs in the 3rd. In the 5th he grounded out with runners on the corners. He's hitting .155 with runners in scoring position this year and that's inexcusable.

Ortiz was playing first base, which thankfully meant Mike Napoli was not in the lineup. Shane Victorino did go 0 for 3 as a heartfelt tribute to Napoli.

Hanley Ramirez had the big hit, but the working class hero of the game was Ryan Hanigan, who hit 3 singles, knocked in 2 runs, and walked.

Eduardo Rodriguez was okay. He held the Astros to 1 run, but his rising pitch count limited him to 5 innings. He struck out 8.

The bullpen is an issue. When every other part of a team struggled, sometimes it's hard to notice a bad bullpen. Now that the bullpen has leads to protect, we're starting to see how vulnerable and shallow it truly is. On Friday night the Sox were tied 8-8 in the 10th inning and were forced to send Noe Ramirez to the mound to make his Major League debut. He gave up 4 runs. This was after Breslow struggled, which was after Masterson made a horrible start.

I'm not dwelling on the negative. The Sox are 6 games out in the AL East. They just took 2 of 3 from a good Houston team. It would be a shame if this last ditch effort to fight for a playoff spot were undermined by a shaky bullpen, a manager who makes bad decisions, hitters who forget what the count is, fielders who forget how many outs there are, and baserunners who don't know when to steal and when not to.

Photo Credit: Steven Senne/Associated Press

Fate of the 2015 Red Sox to be decided in the next 4 weeks

In 4 weeks we'll know if the 2015 Red Sox season will be something to be ashamed of, or proud of. Will the 2015 Sox be an embarrassing failure or an inspiring success? Will they be potential buyers at the July 31st trade deadline, or sellers?

The Sox beat the Blue Jays 4-3 Tuesday night, ending June with a 3-game win streak and a 14-14 record for the month. It was only the third 3-game win streak of the season. They have yet to push any of those to 4 games. It's said that momentum is only as good as next day's starting pitcher. Unfortunately Wednesday's starter for the Sox is 4-8 Rick Porcello. So my hopes aren't too high that the Sox will extend their streak to 4.

Now is the time to get busy winning or get busy losing. It's July. The trade deadline looms at the end of the month. If the Sox can't win their way back into the hunt, they will be compelled to be sellers at the deadline. If out of contention at the end of the month, they can't afford to pass up the opportunity to rid themselves of dead weight and/or acquire promising talent for the near future.

A 6 game deficit in the division and for the wild cards doesn't seem like much. However, 4 teams stand in the Sox' way in the AL East, and 9 for the wild card spots. Some of those teams are bound to get hot, so closing the gap against them will not be easy.

The Sox play 16 of their next 18 against good teams. Ground must be gained during this stretch. They don't have to gain 3 or 4 games a week, but over the next 4 weeks they must steadily close the gap between them and a playoff spot. Treading water isn't good enough. It's time to swim.

The Sox can't afford more 3 game losing streaks (they had 5 of those in May). No more settling for split series, or taking 2 of 3 from one team then losing 2 of 3 to another. Playing .500 baseball won't be enough to bring the Sox closer to a playoff spot.

Porcello will likely make 5 starts in July. It's time for him to do his job, or at the very least stop sucking so terribly at it. Clay Buchholz needs to stay healthy and sharp. If the Sox get themselves in the race, he needs to handle the pressure of pitching in meaningful games again. And Eddie Rodriguez needs to stop tipping his pitches. Watching him on the mound is like watching an instructional video on poker tells.

Photo Credit: Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP

Robinson Cano Leaving AL East (written after Cano signed with Seattle)

I was literally a second away from publishing a post bashing Jay-Z and Robinson Cano for trying to make the Mariners bid against themselves for Cano's services. Cano had been offered $225 million over 9 years, then Jay-Z reportedly demanded $252 for 10 years, and outraged Mariner ownership stormed away from the proverbial table. The Yankees had offered Cano $170 million for 7 years.

And just as I was on the verge of clicking "publish," I heard that the Mariners and Cano had agreed to a 10-year deal worth $240 million. And that makes sense based on the other numbers. Cano gets less per year, but gets an additional year.

It's an insane deal. Cano is a great player, a potential Hall of Famer, but this pays him until he's 40. Many baseball contracts are becoming insane. It's only a matter of time before we see $300 million deals for top players. One day we will see a $400 million deal.

Making the deal more insane is that Cano has only hit 30+ HRs once in his career. He's never slugged .600 or had an OBP over .400. He's only slugged .550 or higher once (.550 on the dot in 2012), and only had an OBP of .380+ twice. He turned 31 in late October so he's at his peak right now. And he's a damn good player. But if he didn't play second base I don't think people would drool over him as much as they do. Because his numbers are not shattering.

But the Mariners are much, MUCH better with him. And the Yankees are much worse without him. And the Yanks also look quite dumb for giving Ellsbury $21.9 million a year but not giving Cano $24 million a year. Cano was the entire Yankee offense last year. And now Ellsbury is their best hitter. Taking Cano out of the 2013 lineup and putting Ellsbury's numbers in, Ellsbury would have led the Yankees in average, OBP, SLG, and OPS. Cano has hit almost as many homeruns in the last 2 seasons as Ellsbury has his entire career.

Anyway, I'm just happy Cano is out of the AL East. That's really all that matters.

In 156 career games against the Sox, Cano hit .308 with 21 homeruns and 104 RBI. I don't mind him moving to another division. Not one bit.

Red Sox Eliminate Yankees from Division Race

I completely forgot that when Clay Buchholz got hurt he was 9-0 with a phenomenal ERA. He's now 11-0. If he can pitch up to his capability in October, then the Red Sox have a formidable and deep rotation.

He got better as the game progressed. He struggled with his control at the start, but recovered. He only allowed 2 hits and an "unearned" run (he made the error that led to the run) in his 6 innings. The fact that he maintained strength deep into the game is very promising.

And the offense took advantage of Ivan Nova, who looks like a completely different person from August. The Sox, particularly Daniel Nava, brutalized him in 4 innings. Nava was 4 for 5 with a pair of doubles.

Mike Napoli hit a long homerun to straight away center. His 22nd of the season and 7th against the Yankees this year. His 89 RBI are second best on the team, only 5 behind Ortiz, who also knocked in 2 last night.

The 9-2 victory eliminated the Yankees from the AL East race. The Sox are 1 win away from eliminating the Orioles. The Magic Number to win the division is 4. And the Magic Number to clinch a playoff spot is 3. I did not think I would be discussing Magic Numbers this year.

Speaking of the O's, they'll be in town starting Tuesday night. Ryan Dempster faces 12-10 Scott Feldman. Mike Napoli crushes this guy (11 for 26 with 2 homers), and the Sox generally do well against him. Dempster has been better than decent against the O's this season.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Steven Senne

Red Sox Shouldn't React to Blue Jays Trade

The Toronto Blue Jays and Miami Marlins agreed to a massive trade yesterday. Toronto received Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, John Buck, and Emilio Bonifacio. And while the deal certainly makes Toronto a better team, it should not affect what the Red Sox do in any way.

I'm worried that the Sox, in response to this move, might seek to make a splash of their own. This would be unwise. Let the fans whine and moan about the Sox being the 5th best team in the division (which they already were in 2012). The Red Sox should stick to their plan, worry about themselves, improve as much as they can this off-season without sacrificing their ability to continue to improve.

It's going to take more than one off-season, and more than one or two moves to improve the Sox. They're a 69 win team and finding 25+ additional wins will take some time. Likely more than one off-season.

So calm down, Red Sox Nation. It's your panic that can trigger Larry Lucchino to call Ben Cherington and say "we need to do something."

There really isn't much out there for the Sox to acquire. I'd like to see Zach Greinke here, but he might be too expensive. Mike Napoli doesn't impress me. I wouldn't mind Josh Hamilton, especially with Jacoby Ellsbury getting his luggage ready.

The Sox have money, but that's no excuse to spend carelessly. They need to be prudent. I'm reminded of The Simpsons episode with the monorail.

The Sox need to listen to Marge and fix Main Street's potholes before investing in a shiny mass transit system.

Although I wouldn't put it past Lucchino to build an elevated monorail line that encircled Fenway Park, with stops at the Monster, the bleachers, the Bud Deck, and Yawkey Way.