For the first time since 1996, the Boston Red Sox are 0-5. Panicking yet?
With Wednesday night's loss to the Cleveland Indians, the Red Sox equaled their worst start in 15 years. As a team, Boston is hitting .190 -- and of its 31 hits, 17 have come from three players (Adrian Gonzalez, Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz). Starters Marco Scutaro, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Kevin Youkilis are a combined 4-for-41. And the offense has produced a total of 16 runs. Sixteens runs in five games! With two of those games coming against the Indians, a team that has lost 93 and 97 games the past two seasons.
But it's not just the offense. The Red Sox' team ERA is 8.33, the worst in MLB.
Our Red Sox blog, Over The Monster, struggles to paint a positive picture.
A purely objective look at the Red Sox' position right now shows that they are only three games behind of the Yankees (no, we will not be counting in the Orioles as legitimate contenders just yet)--a situation far better than the one they faced a month into the 2010 season. The Sox might not have made it to the postseason then, running out of gas as the injuries continued around July, but they overcame a larger mountain, setting the precedent to do it again.
A more subjective look at things, however, sets off alarms. Drop three to the Rangers? That can happen. Follow it up by making two mediocre pitchers look like Cy Young contenders while giving up two more games to the Indians? We're in trouble.