The Red Sox are in a dark place right now. 3-6 in their last nine games, coming off one of their worst losses of the season, with questions throughout the pitching staff. While their seven game lead in the wild card race still seems solid, and the Sox almost certainly will not continue to play sub-.400 baseball over the next few weeks, the playoffs are suddenly appearing that much more frightening.
While this may not actually effect the team all that much--they have their fair share of playoff veterans who could just be biding their time--it does make it a stressful time to be a fan. And after last night's debacle, the fans could really use a pick-me-up.
Unfortunately, they'll have to rely on Andrew Miller and a patchwork lineup with multiple players getting the day off. In other words, they seem to need a miracle.
Boston Red Sox (85-57)
- Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
- Marco Scutaro, SS
- Dustin Pedroia, 2B
- David Ortiz, DH
- Kevin Youkilis, 1B
- Jed Lowrie, 3B
- Josh Reddick, RF
- Jason Varitek, C
- Darnell McDonald, LF
The Jays will once again be without Adam Lind, but otherwise won't let up much on the Sox.
Toronto Blue Jays (71-72)
- Yunel Escobar, SS
- Eric Thames, LF
- Jose Bautista, RF
- Edwin Encarnacion, DH
- Kelly Johnson, 2B
- Brett Lawrie, 3B
- David Cooper, 1B
- J.P. Arencibia, C
- Mike McCoy, CF
Pitching Matchup: Andrew Miller (6-2, 5.27 ERA) vs. Ricky Romero (13-10, 2.97 ERA)
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice...No matter what happens tonight, Red Sox fans will not be putting any great faith back in Andrew Miller. His two decent outings on the Sox' last road trip are all-but-forgotten after his terrible start against Texas last weekend. Still, it wouldn't be too unreasonable to suggest that Andrew Miller is capable of certain heights on any given night--it's only crazy to expect them from him. So the Sox aren't entirely without hope tonight. It's just that the chances for a good start aren't, perhaps, what they would want them to be.
For Ricky Romero, there's no doubt that he's good, and when any team goes up against him they have to expect a serious challenge. So far this year, though, he's been helpless against the Red Sox, pitching just 8.2 total innings in his two starts and allowing 11 earned runs in the process. He's been struggling a bit in his last few outings, too, and with the Sox' offense on a two-game roll, it could be the wrong team at the wrong time for Romero.