It’s shaping up to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week for the Red Sox.
Am I being dramatic?
Often.
Am I wrong?
Rarely.
Let’s review…
RISP-y Business
Last night, the Red Sox had what can only be described as an offensive offensive outing. I certainly feel offended. They were held to just six hits, and worse yet, were 0-13 with runners in scoring position. The night before, the top of the lineup (Mookie, Beni, JD, X, and Moreland) went a combined 0-for-23 and it was Blake Swihart, of all people, who walked it off. Point is: something’s off about this offense, and it’s a serious issue.
Xander again
Maybe it’s because I’m a Red Sox fan who doesn’t pay close attention to other teams, but it really feels like these crazy coincidences only happen to the Red Sox. In this case, I’m referring to Xander Bogaerts getting hit in the hand in the same spot in which he was hit last year, an injury that seriously impeded his 2017 season. While the x-rays were negative, X himself admitted to being freaked out about the injury.
You know the old saying ‘Lightning never strikes the same place twice?’ It sure seems like the Red Sox are the exception to that rule.
Drew Takes the L
Now, in fairness, this was actually one of Drew’s least terrible starts of the season, and hopefully a step in the right direction. He only allowed two runs on four hits, and he lasted five innings. Yes, he’s 1-5 in 10 starts, and his ERA is a whopping 6.56 (it was 3.32 in 2017), but this loss was mostly due to the aforementioned lack of run support.
Chris Sale to the DL
And just in time for the Yankees to come to town, too. The Sox announced today that Sale was being placed on a 10-day DL retroactive to July 28th for shoulder inflammation.
Of course, everyone in Red Sox Nation, myself included, lost their minds over this.
Sale maintains that he feels okay and hopes to only miss one start. But seeing your best starter, one of the best starters in the entire league, go on the DL is pretty much a waking nightmare. And having it happen when the Yankees are coming to town and only 5 games back isn’t ideal.
Of course, we’d rather have Sale healthy for the postseason, but of course, we need to win games to get there. 42 more, to be specific.
So far, not a great week for the Red Sox. And with the Yankees coming in for a 4-game weekend series, I’m not feeling optimistic about it improving. Here’s hoping today’s day off works like a reset button…
Photo: Boston Herald
