The frustration continues for Jon Lester, the Boston Red Sox and the fans as the Red Sox fell 7-1 to the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday afternoon. It’s the fourth straight loss for the Red Sox and third to the Rays.
Yesterday the Red Sox ran into the buzzsaw that is Matt Garza, who’s had good success against them. That success continued as he just kept rolling through the Red Sox like they were a little league lineup. He mixed his pitches well and the Red Sox had no answer for him.
The early season struggles of Jon Lester continued on Sunday afternoon although after he struck out the side in the first inning, things looked to be heading in the right direction. It went south for him in the 2nd and 3rd innings when he allowed two runs in each one.
All told on the day, Lester allowed seven runs on seven hits and three walks with five strikeouts in six innings of work. The five strikeouts now gives him 501 in his career. But now in 15 career March/April starts, Lester is 2-6 with a 5.46 ERA.
“I just have to be better,” Lester said. “It’s unacceptable. I’m letting my rotation down. I’m letting our bullpen down and I’m letting the team down.”
With the exception of a few select players (Dustin Pedroia, Jason Varitek, Jeremy Hermida), the Red Sox as a collective whole are struggling at the plate right now. But what’s more concerning to me is that the team is struggling on defense as well.
We were promised by general manager Theo Epstein a much better defensive team but have yet to see it. I can overlook Adrian Beltre losing the ball in the lights on Friday night (that stuff happens) but Marco Scutaro and Mike Cameron have hurt the club on a few occasions.
Scutaro has made three errors so far this season at short with Bill Hall adding another. Hall has one in the outfield to go along with Cameron’s drop of the fly ball on Saturday night. Beltre has one error and Lester made one yesterday and that’s it for the Red Sox this season.
Something needs to change and quick for the Red Sox, otherwise it’s going to be a long 2010 season. Let’s hope John Lackey can get things back on track this morning.
We’ll be back shortly with the lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and any other links for today’s Patriot’s Day Game which begins at 11:05 a.m.
To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click
Five Things We Learned: Taking stock of the Sox’ predicament [Alex Speier – WEEI.com]
Garza’s latest performance was striking [Boston Globe]
Cameron still hasn’t found comfort zone [Boston Globe]
Wake-up call not answered [Boston Globe]
Slumber yard [Boston Globe]
Getting late early on Red Sox [Boston Herald]
Fenway still frozen [Boston Herald]
Hitter fail to deliver in clutch [Boston Herald]
Jon Lester has no answers [Boston Herald]
Tampa Bay not to be overlooked [Boston Herald]
Lester, Varitek: It’ll get better [Clubhouse Insider]
Lester’s early struggles continue [CSN New England]
Sox, Lester limp into Marathon Monday [ESPN Boston]
Road closure information around Fenway [ESPN Boston]
Compared to 1996, this isn’t so bad [Extra Bases]
The anatomy of a slump [Extra Bases]
Jimenez as Josh Beckett? [Full Count]
Closing Time: Rays 7, Red Sox 1 [Full Count]
Lester: ‘I need to pick it up and kick myself in the [expletive]‘ [Full Count]
Jon Lester’s Struggles Made Worse by Team’s Early Swoon [NESN.com]
Jon Lester’s, Josh Beckett’s Accountability Key for Staff’s Impending Success [NESN.com]
Pitching is bad, hitting is worse [Providence Journal]
Bullpen has looked good at times, shaky at others [Providence Journal]
MLB to Maddon: No more hoodies [Providence Journal]
Sox still waiting for hitters to get in the swing of things [Providence Journal]
Red Sox journal: Pilgrim’s Wheeler says Rays ‘have what it takes’ [Providence Journal]
For more slices of Boston Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, ESPN Boston, NESN, Providence Journal and WEEI websites.
And if you must see what the enemy papers are saying, head over to the Tampa Tribune and St. Petersburg Times websites.
4-8
