AL East Pennant Race Far From Over
The Red Sox and Rays Keep Battling For Division Supremecy
Sep 11, 2008
It was reminiscent of days of old when the Red Sox would find themselves so close to catching the New York Yankees, only to fall short and finish the season several games back.
There’s plenty of blame to go around.
Red Sox Bullpen folds
The bullpen gave up the game in both contests as Jonathan Papelbon lost a lead in the Rays’ 5-4 comeback Tuesday night and Mike Timlin served up a tasty three-run tater to Carlos Pena in the 14th inning, giving Tampa Bay a 4-2 win Wednesday.
Daiskuke Matsuzaka Unreliable Again
Tuesday, Daisuke Matsuzaka barely made it through five innings alive, constantly having to work out of trouble and yet again forced Tarry Francona to go to his bullpen earlier than he wanted. Perhaps having fresher legs in the pen may have helped in a 14 inning ballgame and might even have meant there was no need for Timlin, who probably should have called it quits after last season.
Red Sox Offense Falls Flat
Wednesday, Beckett was brilliant, as was the bullpen until the final inning. But neither got any help from the offense, which saw Dustin Pedroia reach base six times, but fail to score even once. Boston had runners in scoring position in the ninth, 10th, 11th, 12th and 14th innings, but didn’t push a run across until Youkilis sacrificed to center to pull the team with two runs in the 14th.
AL East Standings
Now, the Red Sox are far from out of it, sitting 2 ½ games back and their fate is no longer in their hands alone. Toronto is out of it, but is making a late-season claim of third place and the injury-plagued New York Yankees sit a distant fourth, 11 games out of first. Baltimore, despite driving in the sixth most runs in the league, is the only team not above .500 at this point.
Red Sox Must Regroup
The Red Sox must shake off back-to-back demoralizing losses and get back on the hot streak that closed the gap from six games to a mere half game in 10 days. It won’t be easy, as they take on the Toronto Blue Jays, who suddenly have come quite accustomed to playing the role of spoiler. They took two of three from the Yankees to round out the August schedule, then swept both the Minnesota Twins and the Rays at home. In September, they have now won eight of their last nine.
Rays vs. Yankees
But on top of that, Red Sox fans find themselves in an unusual predicament, actually needing to hope the Yankees can put the Rays back into the funk they were in before taking the last two games. Tampa Bay had dropped five of their six September games heading into the series with Boston.
AL East Picture
The picture of the pennant race will come into focus after the series with Toronto and a final showdown with the Rays right after. As of a week from today (Thursday), the Red Sox could be as far back as 8 ½ games, or could hold a 3 ½ game lead with 10 games remaining in the regular season.
For those of you who still have doubts, it’s time to pull your heads out of the sand. The Rays are for real and they’re here to stay.
