The Boston Red Sox ended their 10 game losing streak, their worst since 1994 on Monday, with an 8-6 win at Turner Field over the Atlanta Braves. They followed that up with a 6-3 win Tuesday night. Despite this sign of life from the World Champions, they still need to do a great deal more to get back into the wild card chase, which they are currently 5 games out of. They add SS Stephen Drew shortly, a move GM Ben Cherington made to stop the bleeding for the sliding Red Sox. Despite bringing back the strong defensive shortstop, this appeared to be a panic move. Xander Bogaerts is an effective shortstop and is still learning the major league pace. Will Middlebrooks, while oft-injured, is a talented bat that showed some life in his brief appearance on the diamond. In addition, the Red Sox have gotten strong play from back up 3B Brock Holt (batting .313 with 6 RBI’s in 17 games played). Time will tell if this move pays off, as Drew has yet to make an appearance, but we will find out if the 10 million dollar gamble pays off for Cherington. Here are three more issues that, if fixed, can turn this team around.
- The Play of Stars: David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia are the two leaders of this ball club, and also make the biggest impact offensively in the 3rd and 4th spots in the batting order. For a team that was averaging 2.6 runs per game during the losing streak, both players didn’t provide the spark needed, combining for just 12 hits and 1 RBI during the losing streak. In the wins against Atlanta, they combined for 6 hits and 8 RBI’s (including a David Ortiz 3-run home run in game 1). If they can get it going, the Red Sox will climb back quickly.
- Relief Pitching: This became crucial for the Red Sox, as they played in 4, 1-run games, 2 of which went to extra’s. Andrew Miller allowed the walk off in 3 of those occasions, dropping his record to 1-4 on the year. If the Red Sox could get longer outings out of struggling starters like Clay Buchholz and Jake Peavy, they can put less pressure on the bullpen. Additionally, the extra run support will go a long way in solving their issues in that regard.
- Run Support for Jon Lester: It is an absolute shame that Jon Lester can’t get any help. Lester has a 3.45 ERA (buoyed by the fact he struggled mightily vs Toronto recently) but is only 5-6. Not including the Toronto game, he has given up more than 3 runs only twice in 11 starts this year. Yet he only got more than 3 runs of support just four times (all wins). Lester pitched effectively against Atlanta allowing only 3 earned runs and got the run support he so desperately needed. Lester is doing his job but needs some help from anyone. If he continues to get it like last night he will keep rolling on leading this pitching squad.
If these things are done, the Boston Red Sox are going to be fine and have a very legitimate shot of making the postseason once again!
Note: Stats from ESPN.com
[Photo Credit: Bob DeChiara/ USA Today Sports]
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
