Never Should Have Gone to Extra Innings

See what happens when you waste opportunities early? Two on, none out in the first, Red Sox don't score. Two on in the second, they don't score. They are hitting under .200 so far through the first three games with runners in scoring position.

I knew it would come back to bite them. They lose two of three to New York in the first of the latest War to End All Wars.

John Lackey was terrific. Six shutout innings. But Daniel Bard throws an 0-2 fastball over the plate to Nick Swisher for a single and New York ties it. Ungood. (The Sox pitching has allowed 17 walks in the three games to New York. VERY ungood.)

They do nothing tonight against newest Yankeeography subject Chan Ho Park, and Jonathan Papelbon loses it by throwing a meatball that Curtis Granderson kills.

David Ortiz drove in the lone Red Sox run with an RBI single in the third. He also struck out twice, once against Park. The pressure on him is going to continue to mount unless he really steps up and starts to look something like the Papi of recent vintage. You may have heard he gave reporters a piece of his mind on Tuesday night. It went something like this:

"You guys wait 'til s**t happens, then you can talk s**t. Two f*****g games, and already you a******s are going crazy. What's up with that, man? A******s. 160 games left. That's a crock of s**t. One of you f*****s got to go ahead and hit for me."

I understand Papi's frustration with these reporters, some of which I consider lower than pond scum. But saying something like this is almost a declaration of war to these guys.

I sure hope Papi gets it rolling, otherwise they'll have their knives out waiting for him.

And I can hear the birdbrains on sportsradio (actually I can't because I avoid it as it's a haven for imbeciles) wanting the Sox to dump Ortiz, Papelbon, Drew and Ellsbury. Do yourself a favor and find something more constructive to do on the off day tomorrow.

Now on to Kansas City. 159 more games to go.