Once a week, you’ll hear from numerous Red Sox bloggers on the Internet on a Red Sox related issue, and we’ll aggregate the answers here. Answers are placed in the order they were received. Thanks to everyone for participating!
Was the series loss to the Rays at Fenway Park cause for concern? Why?
“No. Although losing two of the three games was not ideal, I don’t feel any different than I did before the series. It’s no secret that
the Rays are a strong team and I expected the games to be close. (It should be more of the same in Tampa this week.) A lucky break here or there could have given the Red Sox wins in either of the last two games. … A plea to Tito: Stop batting Ellsbury leadoff! — Allan, Joy of Sox
“This series will uplift the Rays more than it will crush the Sox. That said, we missed a golden opportunity to jump ahead. Now the pressure is on the Sox. Problem is, they’ve struggled against the good teams all year, while beating up on the dregs of the league: “contenders” – 16-22 vs LAA, CWS, MIN, TB / “dregs” – 39-15 vs BAL, KC, OAK, SEA, TEX. When you look at the Rays (21-15 vs contenders / 32-15 vs dregs), and you factor in the dramatic wins from this series (in Fenway mind you)… the Rays look more like a playoff team than the Red Sox do. Many were saying the opposite just 3 days ago.” — Bottom Line Rob, The Bottom Line
“I’m not sure it’s a cause for concern so much as a reinforcement of concerns that already existed about this club. We already knew we had bullpen trouble and a lineup that seems to go inexplicably cold for certain stretches. The most disconcerting thing about this series is that it took place at home, where those problems have been virtually nonexistent. Objectively, these two losses mean little. With slightly better luck and slightly better umpiring, this is a series sweep despite three lethargic games from one of the league’s best offenses, and even as things stand, they did not appreciably hurt the Sox’ playoff chances. Subjectively, however, this series casts more in doubt the Red Sox’ ability to go deep once they get there.” — Paul SF, YFSF
“In that it highlighted Papelbon’s recent over-reliance on his fastball, possibly. But apart from that I don’t assign too much
significance to the series. First, the trend of each team holding serve, as it were, winning each game played at home, was not
sustainable. Second, the opportunities to win the latter two games were there; we were not, in any sense, outclassed. Last, it should be remembered that we were under a slight handicap with Beckett, given his injury situation. Were we to face the Rays in the postseason, I feel pretty good about our chances when we’re throwing both Beckett and Lester.” — Stephen O’Grady, wicked clevah
“The series against the Rays is cause for come concern for two reasons: the evolution of Jonathan Papelbon and bullpen composition/management. Papelbon has been visibly getting by with just his fastball for some time now, and on Tuesday it finally caught up with him. There have been two many ABs against mediocre or sub-par batters with multiple balls being fouled off. While in a World Series game against a team that hasn’t seen him that approach may be effective, in the playoffs against the AL it will be a gamble. As far as the composition of the ‘pen, Mike Timlin’s service time and veteran ability can no longer hide the fact that he doesn’t have the stuff or location that he used to. His spot would, in my opinion, be better filled by someone along the lines of Chris Smith.” — Ryan Brodeur, The Hot Corner
“Absolutely not. Our starters gave up just four ER in 18.2 IP. Eleven of the 13 innings pitched by the ‘pen were scoreless ones. Our offense outscored theirs in the series. Had we been dominated by Tampa I’d be concerned–but even in that case, we’d still be in good shape as far as reaching the postseason, which is the main goal.” — Jere Smith, A Red Sox Fan From Pinstripe Territory
“The biggest cause for concern is not winning the division and having to play the Angels in a short series; the Sox have not played them well this season. The Angels were riddled with injuries by the time the playoffs rolled around last year, this year they are a much better team.” — Matt O’Donnell, Fenway West
“I’m not sure that the series loss to the Rays was a cause for concern so much as it was a sign that Tampa Bay is legit. They had every reason to fold or give in during game 2 and game 3 but they kept pushing and managed to come out with back-to-back wins. Even when the team lost Evan Longoria AND Carl Crawford, they barely skipped a beat. TB is good and can finally match up toe-to-toe with the big boys.” — Michael Christopher, Sox Addict
“From a competitive standpoint, I’m not worried in the slightest. The Rays are tough, and we knew that. What concerned me more was the way the offense folded on Wednesday night. They had their 2 through 6 hitters up in both the 10th and 12th innings, but walked away with butkis.” — Dan Lamothe, Red Sox Monster
“Yes. Simply because this is the first year I can remember games that the Sox take the lead in the late innings of a game only to give it back up again.” — The Boston Blogger, The Boston Blogger
“In the grand scheme of things, no. The Red Sox are still very much in control of the wild card and then their playoff destiny. They lost two very close, competitive games to a team every bit their equal and a possible ALCS opponent. But at the same time, you want to see the killer instinct of a championship team kick in at times like this week. The Red Sox had an opportunity this weekend and they didn’t capitalize. That is always a concerning situation.” — Tim Daloisio, Fire Brand of the American League
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