Andrew Miller's foot has set off an unfortunate chain of events for the Red Sox while they're in their personal purgatory out west. How so? When he injured his foot in the seventh inning of Saturday night's game, the Red Sox were cruising to an easy victory against the Angels. What took place afterward, while not directly related to Miller's season-ending foot injury, included the following: blowing a 7-3 lead in the 9th inning, losing 9-7 in extras, being shut out by Jered Weaver the next night, and a 11-4 drubbing by the likes of the Seattle Mariners, or Raul Ibanez, Jason Bay, Kendrys Morales, and a bunch of guys I've never heard of. Lester, further showing he's nowhere near the ace of the Red Sox rotation, reverts to his Mr. Hyde form. All of the sudden, the Red Sox of the first half seem like a mirage and the team is proving its skeptics right.
Nothing good ever happens out west for the Red Sox. It's enough to make me wish they would only play teams east of the Mississippi. Once they get out west, they forget how to hit, especially with runners in scoring position. They forget how to pitch and blow any lead they get, and they look like the Bad News Bears. As much as I hoped this trip would be different, with the unexpected success this team has had so far this season, it has proven to be more of the same. If it's any consolation, the Yankees and the O's have been losing right along with the Red Sox, but the Rays are making some serious headway in the division and could well be in first place by the end of the road trip. Where the Red Sox end up going into the All-Star break is anyone's guess. After they stumble their way out of Seattle, they face one of the best teams in the league in the Oakland A's.
I hope I'm wrong and they turn things around starting tonight, but these damn West Coast trips put me in a bad mood. They can't get back home to Fenway fast enough!
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