Roche: Ugly Start To 2011 Red Sox Season, But Don't Worry
BOSTON (CBS) - Boston was swept by the Texas Rangers in the opening series of the 2011 season. It's the club's worst start since the Sox began the 1996 season 0-5.
The numbers were horrific:
- Outscored 26-11 in the series
- Outhit 34-20
- Outhomered 11-3
Red Sox starting pitchers combined to give up 18 earned runs in the three games on 21 hits. They also gave up 9 home runs. The lines?
- Lester: 5.1 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 3 HR
- Lackey: 3.2 IP, 10 H, 9 R, 9 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 2 HR
- Buchholz: 6.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 4 HR
Boston is now just 86-122 all-time in Texas and 32-46 at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Texas. Last year, the Sox dropped 2 of 3 in Texas and the finished 1-5 in Arlington in 2009.
So, how should you take what happened this weekend? Maybe as a wake-up call that nothing will be handed to this Sox team. Just an affirmation that all the prognosticators picking you to win the AL and the World Series means nothing...except that they're a good team.
As for this weekend? Forget about it.
I think it will be fun to listen to 98-5 The Sports Hub Monday simply to hear all the whining about how bad they are. Callers will be crushing this team. Crawford for 7 years and 142-million? Lackey is a stiff! Get rid of Papelbon! Saltalamacchia can't call a game! Curt Young should be fired! On and on and on.........
Since the start of the 2003 season, Red Sox teams have had losing streaks of three or more games the following times:
- 2003: 5
- 2004: 4
- 2005: 4
- 2006: 9
- 2007: 5
- 2008: 7
- 2009: 6
- 2010: 8
Interesting numbers from the sense of the two times the Sox haven't made the play-offs since 2003 were in 2006 and 2010. Those two years they had the most streaks of three or more losses. In other words, keep those types of streaks to a minimum. The more you do, the better the success.
I think this sweep does show you how important starting pitching and pitching, in general, are to a team's success. You can have a great starting line-up, but if the pitching isn't going it could spell trouble.
With that said, I go by track records when it comes to most major league players. Lester, Beckett, and Lackey all have proven their worth over their careers. If healthy, they all should be fine. Buchholz hasn't pitched long enough to determine that, but you would expect him to be at least a .500 pitcher and more likely at least a 12-game winner again, if healthy. Daisuke you just don't know, although he has averaged 11.5 wins over his 4 seasons in the bigs.
I thought Jonathan Papelbon actually looked good Sunday despite loading the bases. His fastball was 94-95 mph and his off-speed stuff was pretty good.
The line-up looks like it should be fine, even though Saltalamacchia, Scutaro, Cameron, MacDonald, and Drew went a combined 0-for-24 in the three game series. The positives are that David Ortiz hit two home runs in the series. It took David, as we all know, until May 1st to hit his second home run last year and June 6th to accomplish the feat in 2009. Adrian Gonzalez showed that sweet swing while Carl Crawford pressed the first two games before going 2-for-4 with an RBI Sunday.
So, don't fret Sox fans. There's a long way to go in the 2011 season. Sweeps happen, especially against good teams like the defending American League Champs.
Again, simply take this as a wake-up call. And, hope the cold air of Cleveland snaps Josh Beckett and company into the team Sox fans expect to see play all season long.
