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Get Ready for a Rehabbed Colon

In the first of what may be several posts with infantile titles, this missive points everyone to the Sox' newfangled rotation, courtesy of the Globe's Extra Bases blog. Bartolo is back on Wednesday, following a spot-start from Justin Masterson on Tuesday.

Statements of Fact, Followed by a Conclusion

• The Tampa Bay Rays will not finish the season in first place.
• The Toronto Blue Jays will not finish the season in first place.
• The Baltimore Orioles will not finish the season in first place.

Ergo, the Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees must finish the season in first place.

Manny Being Manny (Part 362)

The Red Sox are a lot more fun when Manny Ramirez is talking to the press:

Manny Ramírez, meanwhile, spent a couple of minutes in the clubhouse trying to convince reporters the Sox should trade Tavarez for one of Milwaukee's sausages, the stars of the race that occurs prior to every seventh inning in Miller Park. That was after he announced that Tavarez should be traded to Tampa Bay.

Truth in Numbers

The Joy of Sox blog posted a great visual of the Red Sox' current offensive woes:

0100000000010000000000000000000001000000101000000000

That's the 50 inning running linescore for our bats.  Ugh.

Futility Squad

The Red Sox have had a run of trouble at the plate lately, and we were curious to see how it stacked up historically for the team.  Using Baseball Reference's famous Play Index, we have learned that the current streak of five games with two runs or fewer is, in the grand scheme of things, a rather ignominious accomplishment.  This is the first such five game stretch in seven years but not the worst such schneid since the Retrosheet era began.  In 1978 during the famous summer swoon the Sox went six games with similar ineptitude, winning one while scoring two or fewer runs in a slate of games against Minnesota, Texas, and Kansas City. 

• July 25th, 5-2 loss at Minnesota
• July 26th, 2-0 loss at Texas
• July 27th, 3-1 loss at Texas
• July 28th, 4-0 loss to KC at the Fens
• July 29th, 1-0 win against KC at the Fens
• July 30th, 2-1 loss to KC at the Fens

During that stretch 30 years ago, the team hit .198 with an OBP of .238 and 38 men left on base.  They had one homer in six games, 33Ks and only 10 walks and one steal.  Remarkably, over those six games Red Sox relief pitchers threw a total of 2.1 innings in relief.  Total.  Five of the games were completed by the starter and only one got a win, Jim Wright on July 29th.  Roy Halladay has nothing on those guys, frustration-wise.

This year's stretch is actually worse offensively, despite the two wins.

• team batting average of .153
• OPS of .419
• 33 whiffs, already
• 4 RBI
• "only" 27 LOB.  (We all complain about LOB, but shouldn't it be clear to us that the higher that number the better off we probably are?)

If Clay Buchholz wins a pitcher's duel tonight we will be in nearly historic territory.  The longest winning streak for any AL team in the last 52 years when scoring two or fewer runs is a mere three.  In this context, 3 out of six would be a phenomenal accomplishment considering the level of offensive incompetence.  The Sox can steer us away from all of these historical comparisons and save us some time by just busting out of this slump with a big game tonight.  For this, we (and our day job) would be very thankful.

Perpendicular Lines

As encouraging as the following four pitching lines have been for the Red Sox ...

• 8 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 9 K
• 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 13 K
• 8 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 6 K
• 7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K

... these four have been just as distressing:

• 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
• 0 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
• 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
• 0 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Manny Delcarmen has allowed a run in each of his last four appearances. He's looked terrible, and there was no excuse for Francona to bring him in last night. That was just bad managing. Better managing would be starting to let David Aardsma try his hand at some more late-inning appearances.

Delcarmen and Javier Lopez are both in the AL Top 10 in appearances. If that statistic doesn't change, we're going to see a lot more starting pitching performances like the ones in the first list thrown away by relief pitching like the type in the second list.

Not Easy Bein' a Callup (or a Newspaper)

A great story in the Globe today from the soon-to-be-departing Gordon Edes about Bryan Corey, who's up-again, down-again season has been something of a trial for him and his family:

It can't be as bad as the last time, when he had to explain to 4 1/2-year-old Brooke that she wouldn't be coming to Fenway Park anymore to see Wally, or her friends that gathered nightly in the Sox family room.

It won't be like the first time it happened with the Red Sox, either, when he'd just made arrangements to have his car shipped up to Boston from Texas and discovered he wouldn't be here when it arrived.

The apartment in Braintree, the one he leased, gave up, then took back before his 30 days were up, at least it won't be like last week, when he slept on the floor without a stick of furniture in the place.

And Christine? She'll offer a comforting word - his wife always has - but he's seen the light dim in eyes that once shined with excitement but now try to mask the disappointment.

Along with being a terrific look at the behind-the-scenes life of a player whose future is not secure (Corey's no Ortiz or Ramirez, let alone a Casey or a Cora), this story is a reminder of how much the Globe's sports section will lose when Edes bolts to Yahoo!, leaving Amelie Benjamin as the lone baseball writer worth reading at the broadsheet.

Benjamin and the Herald's Rob Bradford will soon be the cream of the crop among Boston's baseball writers, and the Herald -- with Massarotti, Silverman and Buckley -- will clearly have the edge over the Globe as a staff, especially with Jackie MacMullan taking the Globe's buyout offer. Losing Edes and MacMullan is another big blow for a sports staff that used to be phenomenal, and today's story on Bryan Corey is a poignant reminder of what the Globe will be losing.

History x 2

It's truly been amazing to see the three terrific pitching performances turned in by the Red Sox this week. Clay Buchholz, Josh Beckett and Jon Lester each recorded a game score of at least 75 -- an impressive feat tempered only by the fact that none was able to receive a win for his efforts.

That's historic in two ways. First, no set of Sox starters since Fergie Jenkins, Rick Wise and Luis Tiant in June 1977 has recorded game scores that high in three consecutive starts. Second, no two Sox starters have ever in the Retrosheet era received losses in back-to-back games with game scores of 75 or greater.

Think about that. In the last 52 years, Red Sox pitchers have recorded a game score of 75+ 792 times [Update: link added]. Only five times now have three of them come consecutively -- and, until this week, none since the advent of modern bullpen usage (the other four: June 1977, July 1972, July 1966 and Sept. 1958).

The flip side: In those 792 games, the starters received a loss only 36 times and a no-decision 40 times -- never consecutively until Clay Buchholz was hung with the L on Monday and again as Lester received the no-decision Tuesday. In all, the Sox have lost a game in which their starter provided such an effort just 59 times in 792 starts (a tidy .925 winning percentage) -- again, never consecutively until this week.

So congratulations to the Sox starters for their impressive streak. And sympathies to the Sox starters for their equally impressive -- though unfortunate -- streak.

Pieces of April

A year ago today, the Red Sox were playing their 24th and final game of April. Today will be the 27th and penultimate game of the March/April combo month. When it's all said and done, the Sox will have played five more games by May 1 than last season. No wonder they're tired!

After the games of April 29, 2007, the Sox were 16-8, actually not that much better than the possible 17-12 the Sox could rack up (though much better than 15-14) by tomorrow. Let's take a look at some more comparisons between Aprils.

Yuck

Today will be a better day for the Boston Red Sox. They can't lose.

The Sox are in the midst of a brutal stretch, having wasted their two best starts of the season -- including one of Josh Beckett's best starts ever -- and given back all the ground they'd gained in the AL East during their six-game winning streak. The team that could never say die has done so five straight games.