Consistency is the key. This has been lacking in Sox starting pitchers all year. During their recent five-game winning streak, some began to appear, but not quite enough.
The team went into the May 12 game against Cleveland with a 13-19 record and eight losses in the last ten games. In the next five, starters Clay Buchholz, Felix Doubront, Daniel Bard, Jon Lester, and Josh Beckett all produced wins. What has been almost absent, however, is someone who can take the ball and hold the opposition to a run or less in eight or nine innings. I would call that a “super-quality start”. There have been many quality starts (6 innings, 3 or less earned runs) but the bullpen has been overused. Lester achieved an “sqs”
with a complete game 8-hitter over Seattle by a 6-1 score, walking none and K-ing 6. Beckett has come close twice, shutting down the Mariners for 7, allowing 4, walking 2 and and fanning 9 and hurling 7 2/3 in a 5-1 victory at Philly.
The question is-can they do it consistently? Unlike the 1977 Crunch Bunch Sox team, this injury-riddled group cannot cover up a mediocre staff by hitting 213 homers and scoring 859 runs. They had an outfield of Fred Lynn, Dewey Evans and Yaz, with Jim Rice at DH.
Buchholz showed some positive vibes in a 2-1 loss at Tampa, and Doubront followed with a good effort. But Bard was pounded for four in the first at Philadelphia, Lester barely held a 5-1 lead, and Buchholz was racked by the Orioles, though the bullpen bailed him out.
“Sq”starts have been rare for the Sox this season. But until Kevin Youkilis, Cody Ross, Carl Crawford, and Jacoby Ellsbury are back, the burden falls on the big three. That’s the only way back into the division race.
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