Sox Lose 4-2, Lester Scratched

Toronto pitcher Marcus Stroman has the Sox number this year. Another good starting performance by Stroman led the Jays to a 4-2 win. Rubby De La Rosa, like Jon Lester & John Lackey in recent games, pitched well enough to win, but he received no help from the Sox struggling offense. The Sox batters have only scored 17 runs in their last 8 games, hitting a mere .125 with RISP. The ship for 2014 continues to sink. And speaking of sinking, Jon Lester has been scratched from his scheduled start tonight, perhaps signifying that a trade for the big lefty ace is imminent. What a poor decision by Red Sox management, or maybe it's arrogance, to think that they can let Lester go for 2 months & then re-sign him in the off-season. I feel that this is a black eye for the organization as a whole & it will impact ticket sales next year. One reporter on Comcast SportsNet last night said that the Sox brass is trying to change the thinking of 29 other teams about signing 30-somethings to long-term contracts. So far none of the other teams are listening.