Sunday, August 15, 2010

A .500 Road Trip That Should Have Been Better

The Red Sox completed their ten-game road trip with a gem by Jon Lester last night, and an awful bullpen on display in the Texas heat on Sunday.

The Sox finished the ten game swing through New York, Toronto and Texas break even, but it easily could have been 7-3. Those two travesties earlier this week put a damper on what could have been a terrific trip.

Daisuke Matsuzaka gace the Sox a gutsy performance on Sunday in the 99 degree heat in Arlington, going 6 2/3 innings, allowing just two runs when he departed. But the crappy bullpen made one final appearance on the trip, and Manny Delcarmen (another one who I hope will find work elsewhere in 2011) threw a meatball over the plate on his first pitch to Michael Young and it was 5-0.

C.J. Wilson pitched a tremendous game for Texas, allowing just four hits in the 7 2/3 innings he went. The Sox showed some life in the eighth, as Marco Scutaro doubled in a run and Darnell McDonald hit a two-run shot. But any comebacks were short-lived, as Dustin Richardson and Michael Bowden allowed Texas two more runs, and it was over at 7-3, as the Sox went down in order in the ninth.

I would have settled for a 5-5 trip when it started in New York nine days ago. But the last two losses were brutal, and now the Red Sox head back to Boston five behind Tampa Bay (who won today), and 6 behind New York (who lost).

And get ready, The Laser Show is set to resume again on Tuesday night.

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