A Lifeless Loss Against a Nobody

Last night's lifeless 2-0 Red Sox loss in the second game of a doubleheader opened my eyes.

After beating a decent Twins pitcher in Game 1, Phil Hughes, 6-1, they were facing somebody named Trevor May. I never heard of him, so I had to look up his stats. And they were nothing to write home about.

He was 3-3, with an ERA over 5.00. He is 6-9 over two seasons, with a career ERA of 6.42. This is the kind of pitcher the Sox would (and should) beat up on, if they are serious about getting into the AL East race.

They looked absolutely impotent against this guy. May allowed only two base runners, both on hits in the third inning. He went seven innings, striking out nine, and retired the final 13 hitters he faced. The Twins pen then retired the final six batters for the shutout win. I don't take anything away from May, but he's not Felix Hernandez or Chris Sale. If you're serious about being a contender, you have to feast against a pitcher like this, not make him look like Bob Gibson. And especially in front of your home fans. Last night was simply an embarrassment in the middle of an embarrassing season.

After a convincing 6-1 win in the opener, where Eduardo Rodriguez looked superb in seven innings in his second MLB start, the momentum died as Game 2 began. Rick Porcello was terrific, going eight innings, allowing just 2 runs on 5 hits, with no walks. He allowed two runs in the second, his only trouble the entire game.

If I had quoted those stats to you before the game, and said some guy with a career ERA over 6.00 was going for Minnesota, you'd figure an easy win for the Sox, right?

Guess again. Yet again, the Red Sox offense showed absolutely nothing, and at home, which is no longer a Red Sox fortress. No fire, no spark. And with that no guts and no heart. My eyes are seeing things more clearly: that this team has no business being near a pennant race. Outside of players like Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz, they seem comfortable, and content with losing. And that makes me really angry as a fan. Did you also notice the empty seats in both games of the doubleheader yesterday? And with Hanley Ramirez feebly striking out to end Game 2, the boos from the crowd could be heard on TV.

I'd really like this team to prove me wrong. But I'm betting they won't. I'll predict they will not see .500 again in 2015, not with half-assed offensive efforts like yesterday's Game 2.

I'm not one to yell for firings, as that isn't the answer to this team's problems. But if they crash and burn again into a fourth or fifth place finish this year, some major changes need to be made when it all ends.

I'm getting tired of this act, and I know many other Sox fans feel like I do.I've seen enough lifeless baseball from this team already. And it isn't even summer yet.