Swept Under the Rug
The Red Sox failed to win a single game against the visiting Rays in their four-game series. A glance over their team statistics compared to the rest of the American League reveals the squad’s flaws.
Boston batters found themselves in the middle to bottom in several key metrics:
- The Red Sox and the Cleveland Indians are tied for ninth with a paltry .313 on-base percentage.
- They fare better in the power department, taking the sixth slot between the Rays and Angels with a .426 slugging percentage.
- With 50 runs scored, the Red Sox are tenth, only bettering the Rangers, Mariners, Indians, and Orioles.
The front office’s stated goal was to emphasize run prevention over run production. Thus far the team’s pitching staff not successfully carried out this strategy:
- 12th in WHIP: 1.44
- 11th in slugging percentage against: .445
- 9th in on-base percentage against: .337 (just a sliver worse than the Orioles’ .336)
- 12th in strikeout to walk ratio: 1.47
- Next to last in strikeouts per nine innings: 5.72
Unlike past teams that had a balance between hitting and pitching, the 2010’s languid offense cannot chip away at the leads the starters have been spotting the opposition. As my friend and baseball sage noted, pitching and defense can’t manufacture comebacks. The next two series against cellar dwellers Texas and Baltimore will hopefully nullify the need for late-inning rallies (words I never thought I would write regarding the Red Sox).
As for Patriots Day game specifics, my lasting memory will be Jeremy Hermida’s two-run homer in the seventh. It was too little, too late, and it ignominiously knocked a Red Sox fan in the noggin after it cleared the right field fence.
| Game 13: April 19, 2010 | ||
 Rays10-3 | 8 | W: Jeff Niemann (1-0) |
| 2B: Jeff Bartlett (3), Reid Brignac (2), Pat Burrell (4), Evan Longoria (3) 3B: Jeff Bartlett (1) HR: B.J. Upton (4) | ||
| Red Sox 4-9 | 2 | L: John Lackey (1-1) |
| 2B: J.D. Drew (1) HR: Jeremy Hermida (2) | ||
