Sox Drop 5th Game: Still, I Keep The Faith

Dice could have been Josh Beckett out there last night. Five innings and three runs, with a pitch count of roughly one thousand. No, it wasn't a good game and no, the Sox are not fun to watch right now. Just because watching our batters flail at pitches they shouldn't be swinging at, or staring at strike three and then being surprised that they struck out hasn't been ANY fun does not mean that I'm quitting on this team. On the contrary. I'm a Red Sox fan! If there's anything I'm used to, it's pain and disappointment! We have been through worse and come out of it pretty well. Hang tough, folks! It'll get better!

And if it doesn't, it'll be hilarious, so just enjoy the ride. We didn't wait through five months and twenty feet of snow to quit on our baseball team one week into the season, did we? Absolutely not. What we need to do is stand and cheer with all our might, and give the boys a little confidence. We still believe in them, and maybe they just need to hear it. Yeah, of course the idea of having to give multi-millionaires who play a child's game for a living some positive reinforcement is a little silly, but I'm willing to play along. Also, I acknowledge that this 'positive reinforcement' plan might not work while they're in Cleveland, but it'll be perfect for the home opener. Besides, Fenway Opening Day is a new season in itself.... everything that happened before doesn't matter, because that dirty water is going to make everything feel brand new. Someone cue up the Rally Karaoke Guy video, because nothing says 'keep the faith' like a little dose of Millar! Just hang in there, everyone. It'll be ok!

Now that I've gotten my pep rally speech over with... the game. Oh, it was pretty maddening. A word of advice. Don't watch Dice-K pitch while you have food poisoning. The combination is like a knife in your stomach. Still, it could have been worse. Then we got Reyes. I don't know what happened with him. I don't really know much about him, to be honest, but hitting the first two batters and walking the third in a game where we are already losing generally isn't going to make anyone a fan. Dan Wheeler kind of got the punishment for that, having to come into a bases-loaded, no-out situation in a game where your entire fanbase and your team is already uptight. I don't envy him, that's for sure.

A quick comment on the Tek blunder, just for the sake of fairness.... it was stupid, and I expect a lot better from Jason, but in the end, it really didn't make a difference. And yes, I am making excuses for him because he's my favorite player and I'm allowed to do that.

On the other side of it, how about a hand for Wakey, pitching a beautiful 1-2-3, 9 pitch 7th inning. Sure, he gave up a run in the 8th, but it doesn't matter. We weren't going to score any more anyway. The team as a whole, according to my math which is probably incredibly wrong, is batting a measly .140 for the year. If you take out Gonzalez's numbers, we're down to .127. Twenty-four hits in five games. Ugly. Just ugly. Though, now that I'm looking closer, I don't think the numbers have been updated to reflect last night's game... but I promise, it's not much prettier even if you do include last night.

So now, we're back to the top of the rotation. Jon Lester gets a second try to bring home a W against Fausto Carmona. Listen, we can't change the first five games, but if Jon and the boys manage a win tonight, we'll finally get to feel good about this team before heading home. Go get 'em, Jon. I'll be watching.