Sports Redux: Inconsistency Edition

While Bostonist watched the Red Sox struggle in the Texas heat on Monday night, our mind went back to March, when the weather was different but a Boston team's struggle was the same. WBCN's Toucher & Rich were chatting with Bruin Aaron Ward.

At that point in the season, the B's were struggling. Mightily. The BCN guys, as such, asked Ward the obvious question: "Are you guys going to stop sucking?"

Ward's response was that yes, the team had been "inconsistent."

Flash forward to July. The Red Sox are presently inconsistent. John Smoltz's continued struggle with living up to his (admittedly unrealistic for a 42-year-old pitcher who's battled arm issues) hype continued during Monday's 6-3 loss to the Rangers. It should be noted, of course, that Smoltz was looking great going into the sixth inning. But the reality is that the guy gave up three home runs. He's mad at himself and we can't exactly tell the guy that it's all OK. Between that inning and the continued lack of offense from his teammates, the Sox have welcomed the Yankees back into a tie atop the standings.

It's time to get things going. Tonight, Sox fans put their faith in Josh Beckett, with the hope that the Texas guy gets things done in his home state. We also turn our hopeful eyes to Rich Hill, the Baltimore pitcher who faces the Yankees tonight - we're not asking for a no-no (we're not that demanding), but a complete game shutout would be real nice right about now.