...That's how I describe what happened to the bill of goods the Red Sox front office sold the media and fans this offseason on "pitching and defense". Guess what? Pitching and defense is doing them in, to catastrophic proportions. They are a mortifying last in the AL in ERA. Injuries took their toll, with sub-par outfielders allowing hits that major-league level talent would have prevented, but good pitchers adjust and don't let a few bad breaks unravel their outing. These starting pitchers are SUPPOSED to be good. The top three are SUPPOSED to be among the best in the league (although it's possible they could be overrated, except for maybe Lester). Beckett and Lackey may not be Halladay or Sabathia, or Lee, but they are, at least by past performance, far better than what they're showing this season. Something is very, embarrassingly wrong with this pitching staff. It's like they have this disease where they can't find the strike zone and the pitches that do make it there are cookies right down the middle that get crushed. Whatever the hell is wrong needs to be addressed and as quickly as possible because the Sox are on quicksand, sinking further and further into the hole they've dug themselves in the division.
Tonight, Dice-K quickly erased the memory of his stellar start last week with a 5-run first inning. The butchers in the outfield played a role, but the inning quickly spun out of control for Matsuzaka. After the bats came back from the deficit in impressive fashion, One-Pitch Papelbon threw ninth-inning batting practice for the Yankees. Back under .500 go the Sox, thanks to--you guessed it--pitching and defense. Hey, Theo, you got oceanfront property in Iowa to sell us?
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