Dare We Hope?

    After two 4-2 wins over the Oakland A's, the Red Sox looked to be facing the inevitable 4-0 loss with the "My Kingdom For Some Run Support" Buccholz on the mound.   Buchholz was far from his best and lasted less than 5 innings, but, from what his teammates had shown him, he would need to have shut out the A's to have a chance of getting the W.   The Sox were down 4-0 going in the 8th inning and they were 1-26 when trailing after the 7th, as clear an indictment as there will ever be of the lack of resilience of the 2015 squad.  
  
     But something happened in the 8th that seemed unthinkable given the way the Red Sox have played this season:  They came from behind late in the game and put up a 7-run inning!   It all started with Rusney Castillo's first home run of the season.   The Red Sox saw 11 batters step up the plate in the 8th, with the biggest hit coming off the bat of Xander Bogaerts, who took his team from trailing by one run to leading by one run with a 2-run double off the Monster.   Alexandro De Aza and Rusney added some insurance to make it 7-4 and unlikely closer Tommy Layne set the A's down in order in the 9th to nail down the win.  
   
     Games like this can get a team who has been stuck in quicksand all season headed in the right direction.  Or they can be anomalies--bright spots in an otherwise miserable season.  I would like to think the June 7 game against the A's was the former, but this season has given me little reason for such optimism.   They were facing the team with the worst record in the American League, although they just came off of a sweep of the Tigers and they had given the Yankees fits a few weeks back. 

      Amid all the depressing statistics this team has amassed, none more damning than the -42 run differential for the month of May, there have been some bright spots on this team.  The pitching has been solid more often than not after a horrid April.  Eduardo Rodriguez has looked like a beacon of hope in his first two starts.   Xander Bogaerts has been another bright spot, improving both his offense and defense after an underwhelming rookie year laboring under Mike Trout-esque expectations.   Two 22-year-olds cannot be expected to carry the team, however.  That's just not fair.   However, if there is a time for the Red Sox to show they are capable of going on a winning streak, it's now.   Momentum is on their side and they have the chance to do some damage in the AL East.   Whether they will do so, however, remains to be seen.