Bard in and the Red Sox in a tailspin

Well I hate to gloat especially when it comes to the Red Sox losing, but I called Bard and his troubles locating his fastball. Bard says it is mechanical issues and this is something he has battled before. Bard has set the bar so high it is tough to keep up what he has been doing at that level the entire year. he has made it look easy thus far. This is the most important spot of Bard's young career and maybe for his entire career. If he wants to be the Closer in the future he must be able figure out these mechanical issues real fast. If he is closing games out and he has 3 awful outings in a row (it hasn't just been the last 3 outings he has struggled in. His ERA is over 7 since July 31.) he better be able to work through these issues and get back into his groove or fans will really be on him and not stop. See Papelbon. So for the Red Sox and young Mr. Bard this 4 game series against Tamp Bay will either let the Red Sox have a strangle hold on the Wild Card, set them up for 1 final push at the division, or will they be sailing off into the sunset and warmer climates. Lets hope we have some October baseball to cheer about soon.

Will they pull out the division? Or is the wild card our destiny?

After some very tough games over the last week the red sox need to take a deep breath and relax. Are their some things to be worried about? Yes. Are they still going to make the playoffs? Yes. So lets get our guys get healthy and get ready for October baseball! But as good red sox fans do what are some problems that are showing up with a month left of the reg. season...

#1) Starting pitching and this includes Jon Lester. Lester is a horse, but the Yankees have seen him a lot over the years and it showed in his last start against them! Lester couldn't blow his fastball by the likes of Andruw Jones and the gang. They fouled off pitches and Lester couldn't get past the 6th. If Lester doesn't win his games it could be a short postseason. The bigger concern though is obvious who will be the #3 pitcher?Lackey or Bedard? Miller and Wake are awful! Im going with Lackey. Lackey since coming off the phantom DL has been solid and has a winning record. He is a fiery guy and I love that he went after... what's that catchers name with 3 HR is his career? I don't remember crappy players names but good for Lackey!

#2) The Corner OF spots; outside of Ellsbury the OF production has been awful. For 2011 Crawford has been a bust, but a big postseason could turn that around. Who will play RF Reddick has struggled recently and needs to make the adjustments. Drew is fragile but has carried us before. McDonald is a bum and I wont talk about him ever again. Connor Jackson was acquired late, and has a month tryout to show us what he has.

#3) Who will be our ss.  Lowrie has showed with his numerous errors that he is not a major league every day player for a contending team. Will Scutaro stay healthy? Will he produce enough to hide the other weak spots in the lineup? Could Iglesias get a shot late and make impact? i say Scutaro takes it.

#4) People may get mad but will Bard be the nasty setup man we will need! ok ok not that big of a concern, but it showed in the yankee game that Bard does struggle with throwing strikes consistently. If you can wait him out and stay off the slider he is hittable. He throws 96 mph plus, but talented hitters like the yankees have and can hit it if it isn't located near perfectly! We need him to be the guy to bail out the SP if they get in a mess, and he couldn't do that this week.

Alright everybody, I'm trying to get Brad back in the mix but he is exhausted with his baby girl! See you soon and go Sox!

Welcome to Red Sox Nation!

Sorry Guys for the lack of posts for the last couple of days/weeks. A couple of reasons 1) Work Internet has been down for me (Randy) for about 2 weeks.  2) Brad's work blocked out our site (bastards they must be yankee fans) 3) the best reason of all I'd like to welcome the newest edition to RED SOX NATION "Olive" Malay. Brad had a baby girl last weekend when he should have been at the Red Sox  vs. Yankee game with me. I guess it is a good excuse. So he will be out of commission for awhile changing diapers and feeding the young one. However, I have heard Olive has been watching sportscenter with the old man and he has been whispering sweet anti yankee sayings to her every night!

I promise we will get back on the field and start our matchup reports and rants again very soon!

So till then.... LETS GO RED SOX!

Sorry for the lack of

Sorry for the lack of posts internet has been down. Im sending this post via phone from sox vs yanks game! Go sox!