Who would of thought the Boston Red Sox would blow an 9! game lead that they held since September. Many baseball analyst and sports writer already predicted the Red Sox to win the AL East, but boy were they wrong.
What went wrong with them exactly? Well first off, it was their pitching. Their pitching was a disaster. In September, the Red Sox pitching ERA was a dismal 5.84. Pitching was not only their problem, but the whole team in general. Injuries also played a big part. The offense was solid, but their base running and fielding was not so great. Although the Red Sox went 7-20 in September, the Rays had a little help from the Yankees.
Was it me or did the Yankees gift wrap the games to the Rays? Sure, the Yankees was winning 7-0 with with 2 innings left to go and they let the Rays rally. The Rays came to to the bottom of the 9th inning trailing by 1 run and the Yankees could of let Mariano Rivera close the game, (Yeah I'm sure they needed him to "rest" for the playoffs) but they did not use him. They had Cory Wade throw a meatball to Dan Who? Oh right Dan Johnson who is hitting .108 with a slugging percentage of .178 prior to last night's game. That of course setup Evan Longoria with the walk off home run in the 12th inning minutes after Jonathan Papelbon blown the save and let the Orioles walk off on them.
Well who is exactly to blame for their collapse?
-Theo Epstein (Boston's GM) - the man who made the team. Your first to get blame if everything goes wrong, but last to get congratulated for winning.
-John Lackey (Boston's Starting Pitcher) - 6.41 era. Need I say more?
-Carl Crawford (Boston's Left Fielder) - 142 Million Dollar Bust! .255 Average..
-Injuries - Boston was hit with a lot of injuries this season. Kevin Youkilis, Erik Bedard, Clay Buchholz, J.D Drew, Marco Scutaro just to name a few.
-Adrian Gonzalez (Boston's 1st Basemen) - Adrian was not actually a bust, but his post All Star Break numbers are not nearly as good as pre All Star Break.
-Terry Francona (Boston's Manager) - The manager gets blamed for not making the right choice. Kind of like a catch-22. If he made the right choices, he doesn't get the credit he really deserve, but if he makes the wrong choice, he will never hear the end of it.
-Daniel Bard (Boston's Relieve Pitcher) - Gave up 13 earn runs in September!! Took 4 losses in September alone. (Makes you wonder if he will be the closer next season)
-Pitching Staff - When you have Kyle Weiland pitching, you know your season is in trouble. 5.84 era in September also does not help your team.
Well there is always next season. This off season might be a tough one. Many questions on Epstein's moves, Papelbon, Wakefield and Varitek's contract. Many things the Red Sox has to address and the nation has to rebuild their confidence in their team.
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