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September 20, 2007
HARD TO SWALLOW: Last night on this very blog -- and this morning in the newspaper -- I noted it was the obvious the Red Sox had decided on a course of action that was probably 180 degrees contrary to the wishes of their fan base: That they weren't going to jeopardize their long-term playoff chances for the sake of holding off the Yankees and winning the division. Their use of Eric Gagne on Tuesday night was the tipoff; rather than hustle him out of there when the inning began to disintegrate, as you'd expect in a must-win game, the Sox left him in because it was a situation in which they need him to succeed in the postseason. The fact that the game went sailing out the window was secondary to the lesson they said they needed to learn.
And so it was last night that, on Daisuke Matsuzaka's night to pitch, Clay Buchholz was on the mound because the Sox were a) trying to get Matsuzaka some rest and b) trying to set up their rotation for the postseason. That Coco Crisp, who probably could have played if he absolutely had to, didn't. That Kevin Youkilis, who might have been able to play if the season was on the line, didn't. That Manny Ramirez . . . . well, let's not go there. (projo.com) That Hideki Okajima is shut down because of fatigue. (projo.com) It's not quite Fort Myers, last week of March, but it's not what you'd expect from a team determined to finish first.
And so it is that their once-robust A.L. East lead is down to a single game in the loss column after another lifeless loss to the Blue Jays, this one by a 6-1 count. (projo.com) But as Sean McAdam notes, even if ''home-field advantage and the division title don’t mean much to the Red Sox, their downward spiral should.'' They've now lost four in a row, tying their season-high losing streak, and five of their last six, but it's not so much that they're losing; it's how. Last night's biggest concern, aside from the ongoing problem of the popgun offense, was the grand slam allowed by Jonathan Papelbon (above, CP Photo) in the eighth inning, continuing a bullpen breakdown that has negated the team's biggest strength. The relievers have a 6.20 ERA over the last eight games, and Papelbon himself has allowed five inherited runners to score in his last two appearances.
The good news: They're still in first place. They have three games this weekend in Tampa. They come home for the final five games against two moribund out-of-division foes (Oakland and Minnesota). There really isn't any reason for lines to be forming at the Tobin Bridge.
And maybe they wouldn't be if, as the Globe's Gordon Edes notes, the Yankees weren't involved.
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS The Sox' decision to play it the way they're playing it makes sense since, as Allan Wood points out on his Joy of Sox blog, it's almost mathematically impossible for the Red Sox to miss the playoffs.
IN AGREEMENT: And writing on the LoHud Yankees Blog, Peter Abraham lends his voice from the other side of the aisle: ''You work to enter the postseason in the best shape possible. For the Yankees, winning the division is almost totally insignificant. They will be judged on whether they get to the World Series. If they win the division and lose in the first round, it’s a disaster.''
HOWEVER . . . As Edes says, it's the Yankees charging up from the rear . . . and for Red Sox Nation, that always makes it worse. They completed their three-game sweep of the Orioles last night (New York Post), with Andy Pettitte notching his 200th career win. (New York Daily News)
NOT ALL IS WELL: Alex Rodriguez is in a 3-for-29 slump, though the Yanks obviously have found ways to win without getting much of a contribution from him. (New York Post)
A.L. RACES: Au revoir, Tigers. The Indians yesterday completed a three-game sweep of Detroit that all but assured them of the A.L. Central title (Akron Beacon Journal). Tigers manager Jim Leyland crowned the Tribe, saying, ''They're going to be the Central Division champions, obviously.'' (Detroit Free Press) The Free Press' Michael Rosenberg writes the post-mortem, trying to explain how the defending American League champions failed in their quest not only to repeat, but even to get the chance to repeat. It's good news for the Red Sox, obviously, since the Tigers' collapse is going to get them into the playoffs, but that was the only good news for Boston yesterday. The Indians' win meant the Sox fell behind Cleveland in the race for best record in the American League. They also fell behind the Angels, who completed a sweep of Tampa Bay. (Los Angeles Times)
GOOD HIT, NO FIELD: Vladimir Guerrero's bad arm may limit him to DH duties in the postseason. (Los Angeles Times)
N.L. RACES: The Cubs beat the Reds (Chicago Tribune) . . . The Mets beat the Nationals (New York Post) . . . The Phillies lost to the Cardinals in 10 innings (Philadelphia Inquirer) . . . The Brewers lost to the Astros (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) . . . The Diamondbacks beat the Giants (Arizona Republic) . . . The Padres beat the Pirates with a walkoff, three-run homer from Scott Hairston (San Diego Union-Tribune).
To see how all those games affected the races, check out the divisional standings and wild-card standings. (Projo Stats)
DON'T JUST STAND THERE, DO SOMETHING! There are those in Met Nation -- including some players -- who'd like to see more emotion from Willie Randolph in light of the team's recent struggles. But the New York Sun's Tim Marchman says ''[yelling] at grown men is stupid and counterproductive.''
MY PAL: Joe Torre, who had Randolph on his coaching staff for many years with the Yankees, feels Willie's pain. (New York Post)
TWINS: SI.com's Jon Heyman says the Mets and Red Sox have turned into each other, and that's not a good thing.
WORST NIGHTMARE: A hamstring injury may force the Brewers to head down the stretch without Ben Sheets. (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)
WELCOME BACK: Skip Caray has returned to the Braves' broadcast booth after missing several weeks because of congestive heart failure. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
BRAINIACS: Padres pitcher Greg Maddux and A's GM Billy Beane run 1-2 in an SI.com poll of MLB players in which they were asked to name the smartest people in baseball.
QUICKLY: Free-agent-to-be Torii Hunter says he's given a lot of thought to playing with the Rangers (Fort Worth Star-Telegram) . . . Albert Pujols' season might be over because of a strained left calf (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) . . . Vicente Padilla's days with the Rangers may be over (Dallas Morning News) . . . Troy Percival thinks he can still pitch and would like to do so for a West Coast team next year. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
-- ART MARTONE
Posted by Art Martone 
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