Red Sox Redux: Flatline or Silver Lining

Picture from flickr user Keith Allisonavailable for download under a Creative Commons license.

Been there.

Surprisingly, Bostonist is not entirely pessimistic today. Yes, the Red Sox appear to be flatlining after five straight losses to their closest rivals, including back-to-back shutouts at the hands of the Yankees and their top two starters. No runs in 24 straight innings is a statistic one can't ignore. Oh, there's the matter of Kevin Youkilis being miscast as an outfielder.

But, there is an ample silver lining. Starting pitching. We remember Josh Beckett's great effort Friday. Seven innings and no runs. Clay Buchholz might be in the rotation for good. Normally, you can expect to win if your third or fourth starter allows just two runs in six innings. Jon Lester takes the mound tonight to try and salvage something from this series. Lester can certainly withstand the pressure of the closest thing to a must win baseball sees in August.

And, we secretly enjoyed A-Rod getting hit. Intentional or not. Admit it. You did, too.

David Ortiz talked about steroids. Dan Shaughnessy's column today comes pretty close to what this Bostonist thought of it.