Red Sox Wheels Starting To Come Off
Jim Monaghan
Content Coordinator
No one really wants to press the panic button....
At least not yet.
But the fact is the Red Sox have hit a pretty big speed bump and have lost a series - to the Tampa Bay Rays no less - for the first time since June 29-July 1. They've also lost five of their last seven games.
Following impressive wins over Cleveland to end the most recent homestand, Hector Velazquez was shelled Friday night in Tampa, and Rick Porcello (pictured) pitched just well enough to lose on Saturday, allowing three runs over five innings while the offense slumbered.
Boston now faces the task of avoiding a sweep, sending Nathan Eovaldi on the mound against Rays lefty Blake Snell who is 15-5 and and 3-0 since returning from the disabled list.
And to complicate things just a bit, the Yankees are themselves on the verge of a four-game sweep of the Orioles and have picked up two games in the - say it with us - "all-important loss column" in the past two days.
Again, no one wants to panic, but Porcello summed up the Saturday loss rather succinctly - "We were pretty sloppy all the way around. I had two walks, two hit batters, a lot of traffic on the bases. Those are things that I felt like I could have prevented being a little bit sharper, and just our entire ballclub didn't play a very clean ballgame tonight, and the result was a loss."
A win today combined with a day off Monday and two home games against the hapless Marlins would certainly be most welcome.
Click here to find more by Jim Monaghan on Red Sox Life. Follow him on twitter - @Monaghan21.
Content Coordinator
No one really wants to press the panic button....
At least not yet.
But the fact is the Red Sox have hit a pretty big speed bump and have lost a series - to the Tampa Bay Rays no less - for the first time since June 29-July 1. They've also lost five of their last seven games.
Photo courtesy of the Boston Red Sox |
Boston now faces the task of avoiding a sweep, sending Nathan Eovaldi on the mound against Rays lefty Blake Snell who is 15-5 and and 3-0 since returning from the disabled list.
And to complicate things just a bit, the Yankees are themselves on the verge of a four-game sweep of the Orioles and have picked up two games in the - say it with us - "all-important loss column" in the past two days.
Again, no one wants to panic, but Porcello summed up the Saturday loss rather succinctly - "We were pretty sloppy all the way around. I had two walks, two hit batters, a lot of traffic on the bases. Those are things that I felt like I could have prevented being a little bit sharper, and just our entire ballclub didn't play a very clean ballgame tonight, and the result was a loss."
A win today combined with a day off Monday and two home games against the hapless Marlins would certainly be most welcome.
Click here to find more by Jim Monaghan on Red Sox Life. Follow him on twitter - @Monaghan21.