Well, Red Sox Nation, what’s it going to be? Evacuate the bandwagon and tune into the NBA draft or circle the wagons in hopes of Pedro being the ace that rights the ship? I choose the latter. Think about it, Wakefield pitches seven and two-thirds giving up one ER, Ortiz homers and hits a clutch two-run single, and Foulke is the last Sox pitcher on the mound. 99 out of a 100 times, that adds up to a Red Sox “W”. Not so today, however. A two-base error by Nomar and a sac fly off Foulke ended things in the tenth in favor of the Twins. Pedro will do it tomorrow. He really will.
But what about Francona? It’s decision time for him as well. Does he start putting in the line-up that gives us the best chance to win ball games, or continue to treat slumping role-players as starters? Case in point, rally-killer Millar. Why let him bat in the eighth? The guy is simply not getting it done. Put McCarty at first, let Ortiz DH, and sit Millar until he gets his head together. It’s OK, Tito, he’s a big boy, he’ll be OK. How about bringing in your closer in a save situation, not when the score is 9-1 or in a tie game? I’m pretty sure Williamson can pitch more than a third of an inning. Remember Timlin and Embree? They only pitched an inning each last night. Foulke is a closer. C-L-O-S-E-R, look it up. Pinch hitting Varitek? Did you look at his numbers in clutch situations, Tito? Terry, are you listening?
Deep breaths. I’m OK now. Hey, did you see BK only needs a couple more rehab starts before joining the big club? Break out the economy-sized bottle of Tums and tap another keg of Maalox, this ride has just begun.
