...is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. By that very definition, Tito's lineup tonight was insane. Cameron and McDonald are looking so far up at the Mendoza line they need a telescope to see it, yet they're batting 5th and 6th! Unreal! To add insult to injury (and, like last year, there has been way too much injury on this team) the NL rules require the pitcher to bat and the DH to ride pine. When your DH is hitting over .300 and leading the team in home runs, having to do without him really handicaps the offense. Never mind that the absence of Crawford in the lineup behind him has contributed to a bit of a slump and reversion to bad habits (being too pull-happy and playing into the shift, for example), he's still a force to be reckoned with and provides protection for Youk, and to some extent, Gonzo too.
Tonight's result, a 3-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates, was, unfortunately, no surprise. In order to win tonight's game, Lester would have had to pitch a shutout. He didn't pitch badly, but he wasn't all that sharp either. The defense did him no favors. Cameron badly misplayed a liner to right, diving for it and letting it get past him rather than playing it on the bounce and holding Red Sox discard Mike McKenry to a single. The usually reliable Youk botched a few plays at third. Of course, when you walk the pitcher, as Lester did in the 3rd inning, that's nobody's fault but your own.
The Interleague schedule was supposed to be a time when the Red Sox could possibly gain some distance from their division rivals, but given the timing of certain illnesses and injuries, that is proving not to be the case. Tito stubbornly adhering to a platoon situation in the outfield when the right-handed hitters are near-automatic outs (batting 5th and 6th, no less) isn't helping either. When you dilute the lineup that much, you're not going to win many games. Not with a team ERA that ranks 8th in the league.
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