Red Sox Magic Number Drops to 30!

The Red Sox players are doing their best to show Theo that it doesn’t matter what he thinks. It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t think they have a shot. It doesn’t matter if he’d rather have a good organization that a great major league team. They’re just going to keep going out there and doing their best.

Oh, I know. It would have been nice if the Sox hadn’t come out flat on Tuesday night. It would have been grand if the Sox had picked up three games this week instead of just one. But, they took two of three from the team with the second best record in baseball. That can’t be a bad thing, right? Especially since the Sox had their two worst starters pitching?

The pitching decision from last night is interesting, to say the least. If the Sox had won on Tuesday, the Sox had Clay Buchholz scheduled on short rest. Since they lost, the Sox went with Tim Wakefield. So, at 4.5 games they were still in it, but not at 6.5? Is that the decision? Who made that call? If Theo thought that 4.5 was still in the hunt, how come he didn’t make any moves at the deadline to help out? If Francona thought 4.5 was in the hunt, but not 6.5, why was Daisuke on the mound so long Tuesday? I know you can’t do the comparison, but the Sox ended up scoring five runs. Why not pull Dice early like it was a playoff game, if that’s the way you were playing it. If the Sox win Tuesday, it’s all systems go for the playoffs. If they lose Tuesday, it’s wait for next year? Why leave Tuesday to chance then? Was it a must-win game, or not? I don’t understand.

The Sox have been a jumbled mess this season. Nobody’s been able to figure out what to make of them. I guess it’s understandable. They haven’t had their expected starting line-up in there since, well, Spring Training? Every time a hurdle is cleared, another one is there to trip them up. It’s hard to know what to think. It’s been a constant waiting game. Wait until Cameron comes back. Then they’ll be a team. Wait for Ellsbury to come back. Then they’ll be what we expect. Wait until V-Mart heals up. Lowell will cover for Youkilis. Don’t worry. Pedroia can tolerate pain. Apparently he can will bones to heal. (Oh, wait. He can’t.) You never knew who was on the roster from one day to the next, let alone the line-up. It’s hard to eagerly follow a team when you spend all season waiting for it to show up.

And, that’s really the sad part.