Another week of baseball gone. The Sox had a pretty abysmal week, winning just two out of the six games played.
The Red Sox have now lost their last three series, managing to just take one game from each. Last week, I first predicted the Red Sox would take two of three against the Indians. The Sox ended up losing two games in that series, one of which was a heartbreaker. The Sox on Tuesday entered the ninth inning with a 5-2 lead and Ryan Brasier entering the game for an attempted save.
However, this bullpen once again showed its vulnerability as he allowed three earned runs off of a walk and two blasts by the Indians. Travis Lakins would then enter the game and allow another two earned runs before the top half of the inning was over. It’s been said over and over again, but the bullpen continues to struggle at critical times and it is starting to catch up with us.
The blame is not all on just the pitching, however, as the Red Sox offense once again failed to hit in key situations. Multiple times in the Yankee series, they had key situations where runners were left stranded. Chris Sale had a decent outing, allowing four earned runs and striking out 10.
The offense only managed to put up one run in that game, once again giving Sale no run support. Eduardo Nunez had just a pitiful move, getting picked off at second base to end the fifth inning, killing any and all momentum established by Boston.
We are left scratching our heads at this year’s team. There is so much talent, and essentially the same team as last year, but we are failing to execute or play with any passion whatsoever.
Now for the not so fun stat. As I pointed out on Facebook, with 59 games played this year the Red Sox are just one win better than the 2012 Red Sox. Let me repeat that in a more meaningful way. The 2019, Alex Cora led Red Sox, are barely outpacing the 2012, Bobby Valentine led Red Sox at 30-29.
Let’s take a look at the next weeks worth of action and keynotes from this last week. Mookie Betts will now bat in the leadoff spot the remainder of the year, which is a good move in my opinion. Mookie leads the AL in batting average since the 2018 season at .328.
This next week, the Sox will head to Kansas City for a three-game series ,and then head back home for a key four-game series versus the Tampa Bay Rays (Saturday is a makeup game doubleheader). I predict that the Sox will take two of three in KC, and lose three of four against Tampa. By June 9, the Sox will be 33-33.
Kansas City has been struggling all year, sitting at 19-40 on the season. If the Sox are looking for some pick-me-up games, this is their opportunity. Tampa, on the other hand, has been one of the surprise teams this season. Sitting at 35-22, Tampa holds the number two spot in the AL East and sits just 2.5 Games Back from the Yankees. If the Sox can manage to out-perform my predictions, this could be the week they right the ship. However, if my predictions are spot on, this will be the week the ship begins to sink.
Check back next week for your weekly Red Sox review!
