The Baseball Reporters Show Recap 7/6
Tony Massarotti and Dan Roche opened today's show with 2 glaring questions facing the Red Sox: How long can they keep this up before injuries catch up with them? And what do you do with the bullpen that has given up 29 earned runs in its last 30 1/3 innings?
Last night's game vs. the Rays marked the 8th time this season the Red Sox have lost a game in which it's held a 3 run lead or more. That is the most in baseball.
Tony Mazz on the bullpen, "This team was supposed to be built on run prevention, on pitching and defense. Their relievers have allowed more homeruns than any team in baseball save for the Arizona Diamondbacks, with whom they are tied in that particular category. And with regard to bullpen losses, this is always a big one for me, it's one I focus on every year. Bullpen losses indicate games you have blown, basically. Either games you are tired going into the late innings or got the lead going into the late innings, The Red Sox are 6th most in the league. It's a statistic that is revealing to me on an annual basis because the teams that lose the most games in the bullpen usually don't do well".
There are 21 games before the All-Star break and only 7 are at Fenway. This worries Tony because he's starting to think that the injuries are finally going to catch up with the Red Sox.
Tony Mazz on the injuries, "What worries me is at some point Darnell McDonald's talent is going to catch up with him. Daniel Nava's talent is going to catch up with him. These guys are great stories. But they are not the same caliber of players of the people they are replacing".
The Red Sox play their 2nd of 3 games in their series vs. the Tampa Bay Rays tonight in St. Petersburg. Felix Doubront will make his 2nd career start for the Sox opposite Jeff Niemann. The game starts at 7:10 p.m. ET.
