A Split Won't Do It

In game 1 it was 2013 all over again when the Red Sox walked off in the 9th to a 3-2 win over Baltimore on a broken bat single over 2nd base by Jonathan Herrera that scored Jonny Gomes. Both Gomes & Herrera had pinch hit in the 9th. A little magic to be sure. But the Sox fell in the nightcap 7-4 to the O's who pounded their way to victory. Too many errors in both games. In game 1 we found that Jon Lester can't throw a ball overhand to 1B without throwing it away. Xander Bogaerts got eaten up on an in-between hop that scored 2 unearned runs. Nava & Napoli had errors in game 2. Mookie committed a base running mistake of aggression. You can't give a good team like the Baltimore Orioles extra outs. I did some math today. The Red Sox have 39 wins to date with 75 games to go. They need to go 46-29, or play 17 games over .500, to get to 85 wins & have a shot at a wild card. There is no indication that this team is capable of putting together such a stretch. As one of my coaches use to say, hope is not a plan. Too many subpar years by the veterans on this team. Period. So enjoy the maturing of Bogaerts, JBJ, Holt, Mookie, Workman, De La Rosa, etc. Just don't expect them to be perfect & we need to live with their growing pains. Maybe Ben can jettison some payroll after the all-star break & be in a position to bring in a few free agents next year. 1-4 on this home stand says it all.