Slackjawed/Uninspired

Games 17 & 18 - Red Sox

Blue Jays 7, Red Sox 6 (12)
Blue Jays 8, Red Sox 1
Record: 11-7

(For the record, I'm ditching the expanded game results in the header because, frankly, I'm really lazy - and, much like the Sox today, I feel like going through the motions is a much easier option.)

As if I needed another reason to be annoyed with my mother-in-law, her presence in my house last night meant that I had to make continued trips upstairs to follow the Sox. Which was fine for a while, as they built a 6-2 lead behind Manny and Tek's awakening bats and Josh Beckett's extremely economical 7-inning, 78-pitch effort. I headed down to rejoin my wife and her parents after the top of 7th fairly confident that the Sox were headed to an easy win.

"Mother...fucker!", was the first thing that went through my mind as I snuck back upstairs just in time to see Troy Glaus tattoo a Mike Timlin fastball deep into the leftfield seats to tie the game at 6 in the bottom of the 8th. For the 2nd time in 3 games, Terry Francona had sent a Sox starter back to the mound late in a game after a significant wait on the bench, and for the 2nd time in 3 games, the Sox had blown a late lead. And, while we're at it, for the 2nd time in 3 games, Mike Timlin had shit himself on regional television.

Papelbon and Foulke kept the Sox in the game until the 12th, but got no help from the offense and Lyle Overbay's double in the bottom of the final frame put the Sox out of their misery, and cost them their first really wrenching loss of the season.

The hangover was obvious this afternoon as the Sox ran Lenny Dinardo out to oppose Roy Halladay. As I walked into my house after my daughter's soccer game, my wife said, "You're not going to like the Sox score". And when Don and Jerry returned from a commercial break and told me that the Jays led, 5-0, in the top of the 4th, I pretty much wrote off any chance of a comeback, given that Francona had chosen to start most of the Pawtucket lineup.

It's probably too early to worry about a 3-game skid, but given the fact that the Sox suddenly have seemingly very little pitching depth - especially with Timlin slumping - the offense continues to disappoint on the whole, Francona's made a handful of questionable decisions this week, we're counting on Matt Clement to keep the Sox from a 4-game skid, and my in-laws don't leave until tomorrow, well, I'm gonna exercise my God-given right to be a miserable fuck for the next few days.