We Don't Deserve the Post

[pesky6]

This is pathetic. . . the Yankees are begging us to get back into the race, and we have to suffer through another debacle like tonight! Where to begin. . . I guess you've gotta give Seattle some credit for their pitching, but c'mon. . . we gave this game to 'em! Boomer pitched well--AGAIN--and has nothing to show for it. I don't necessarily fault Timlin for giving up the HR, but that should have been the end of his night right there. I know it's only one batter but, given his recent woes, should he really have been out there to face another batter? I would have brought in Papelbon to see what he could have done.

Then the top of the ninth. . . Does FranCOMA know what the word "pinch hitter" is? Hinske has been lost at the plate, why not send Youks out there to hit for him? I can't believe we didn't see one goddam pinch hitter in the 9th!!!

This sucks. . . we totally don't deserve to be in the playoffs if we're going to get crappy managing from FranCOMA!!!! ARRRGGGGGHHH!!!!

:grouchy :grouchy :grouchy :grouchy :grouchy

[Jager]

Not to stick up for him, but we didn't really have any bench players except Pedroia. Youk has the flu, and Pena's hand is hurt. Francona screwed up by putting Timlin in the game at all. He should have known that he would give it up, he's pitched like junk since he came back from the DL. Foulke had looked good, why not use him? Or even Delcarmen has been good some days. I'm so tired of seeing crap like this, yet I keep watching. I'm tired of watching teams beat us over stupid managerial descisions. It's not that Foulke or Delcarmen wouldn't have given it up, however why not give them a try?

That said, Why isn't Tito using some other bullpen guys??????? Breslow, Corey, and Gabbard all looked sharp in limited action, and if Timlin, Hansen (who was sent down), and the other guys aren't getting it done, why not try the youngin's It can't go worse.

[VTSoxFan]

The bench was thin. The only healthy guys who couild have been used as pinch-hitters were Pedroia and Mirabelli; with Youk still reeling and weak from a stomach bug and Wily Mo nursing a sore wrist (he didn't even take BP, and probably would have been no use as a pinch-hitter), there really wasn't a whole heck of a lot Francona could do. (Incidentally, isn't Pena's sore wrist the same one he had surgery on this spring?)

As for the pitching situation... I agree, given Timlin's recent struggle, there's no excuse for not having someone else -- ANYONE! -- warming up at the start of that inning. As soon as Beltre's homer had hit the stands Francona should have pulled Timlin and should never had allowed him to get into the game-losing situation. I don't know how it's happened, but Timlin has lost his stuff all of a sudden. He's not the same pitcher he was in '04 or even last year, and it's unfair to the team and to Timlin himself to keep throwing him out there in these situations.

[sharrock]

Whether frustrated with the bullpen or Francona or the sporadically abysmal offense.... it doesn't feel like the Sox are a playoff caliber team. Not to overstate it but their record reflects the quality of their play. Yes the injuries have hurt a great deal, but too many healthy players have underwhelmed (Beckett, Crisp, Lowell's 2nd half, Tavarez, etc.).

If I step back and look at making a push for the Division next season I feel many holes need to be filled. What that tells me is that this team in front of us is just not that great. It could have been, but its not.

[TonyK]

The only three AL teams with higher ERA's are KC, Tampa Bay and Baltimore. That should tell you all you need to know about this season's sorry state of affairs.

Our only hope to win the WS is if these three teams also make the playoffs.

[sharrock]

The only three AL teams with higher ERA's are KC, Tampa Bay and Baltimore. That should tell you all you need to know about this season's sorry state of affairs.


Wow. That puts the rotation and bullpen in perspective. Ugly.

[Evangelion]

We're 2 games under 500. against American League teams, which is flat out awful.

At the moment, it's quite clear the Red Sox are not a playoff level team. Getting swept in series you need to win doesn't cut it. We've been bad against good and bad teams in the AL.

[VTSoxFan]

The only three AL teams with higher ERA's are KC, Tampa Bay and Baltimore. That should tell you all you need to know about this season's sorry state of affairs.

Our only hope to win the WS is if these three teams also make the playoffs.

What can one say in answer to that? How can we have any pretensions to make the playoffs, let alone advance in them this year?

Over in the Yankees forum they're all wondering what's wrong with the one guy in their lineup who's NOT hitting over .300.... and we're closer to 3rd place than to first. :(

I don't want to give in. I don't want to give up hope. I don't want to say "wait 'til next year".

*sigh*

Guess I'll dig out my tapes of the '04 playoffs, or watch Faith Rewarded again.

[Redlightning]

I'm sorry, but it might be time to give up on this season. I really thought this team had a chance. I still did when Matt Clement got injured and dissapeared off the face of the earth. But now, injuries have left us relatively helpless.Snyder is inconsistent, Beckett was inconsistent. Lester is injured. Schilling and Wells are getting no run support and their leads are being destroyed by the bullpen (The unlucky Mike Timlin, Julian Tavarez, who is terrible before the 12'th or so inning, Manny Delcarmen, who's actually good, Brian Corey, whose job seems to be sitting on the bullpen bench, and Jonathan Papelbon, who we can never get to). I'm still undecided on Kason Gabbard (whom my family has nicknamed "Mystery Meat"). For me, it's time to say those dreaded words, "Wait till next year," and dream of a perfect, injury-free, Seanez/Tavarez/Maybe Hansen (needs more expirience)-free next year.

[KCGHOST]

When your pitching is dreadful you can't expect to do much. Red Sox should be thrilled they hung in as long as they could. Who would have thought unloading Arroyo would have been such a mistake (at least for this season).