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Red Sox Not Ready to Quit After Hitting Rock Bottom

By Frank OLaughlin

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Boston’s boys of summer may have hit rock bottom, but they aren’t ready to roll over and die just yet.

The Boston Red Sox, 27-36, have lost five straight ballgames and sit dead last in the mediocre American League East divisional standings. The club reached a season low-point Friday night after blowing a seven-run lead in a 13-10 embarrassment at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays. A loss on Sunday would drop the Red Sox to 10 games below .500. No matter the situation, the team just can’t seem to buy a break, but the white flag won’t be raised by this group.

“When stuff’s going bad, it’s going real bad,” Xander Bogaerts said following Saturday’s 5-4 extra-inning defeat.

After battling back from down 4-0, the Red Sox forced extra innings, to only lose in the 11th Saturday. Russell Martin slugged a solo homer to lift the Blue Jays to victory. The Red Sox aren’t just losing games now, they’re also losing players to injury as well. Third baseman Pablo Sandoval left the game with quad soreness. Mookie Betts departed Friday’s game after colliding with the centerfield wall.

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Things are going from bad to worse in a hurry. The starting pitching has been erratic, the bullpen has been shaky and the offense continues to struggle, routinely failing to come through in clutch situations.

“Everybody in here knows that we’re not playing like we want to play,” Clay Buchholz said following his start on Saturday.

Buchholz certainly has that right. He threw the ball fairly well in his outing, allowing his teammates a chance to hang tight. The Red Sox could not figure out a way to capitalize off of knuckle-baller R.A. Dickey. They squandered a brilliant base-loaded chance in the seventh.

Manager John Farrell even decided to bench Mike Napoli in wake of his horrific slump at the plate. Farrell’s also shaken up the lineup, hoping to find something that clicks, but the losses still continue to pile up. Farrell’s confidence is not wavering though.

“I wouldn’t write this team off. This is still a team that’s got a long track record of individual performance, and we have to put some things together as a team in all phases,” Farrell said Friday.

Reliever Matt Barnes took a good portion of the beating in Friday’s epic collapse, allowing three runs on three hits without recording an out. He was pitching when Martin homered in the 11th on Saturday. Despite such struggle, Barnes insists the Red Sox will find their way.

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“We have a good team, and we’re going to click,” Barnes said of the team.

If that’s the case, then a sudden turnaround must be enacted. The Blue Jays have won 10 in a row and the Orioles are on an eight-game win streak. They respectively sit one and two games back of the Rays and Yankees for first place. The Red Sox meanwhile trail the lead by seven games.

Time seems to be running short as the hometown squad falters and their rivals pick up steam amid the summer heat. It may look bleak, but Dustin Pedroia set things straight for his mates.

“We’re all grown men. We can’t start crying,” Pedroia said of how things must handled moving forward.

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