Red Sox Diaries

If the Red Sox are going to catch the Blue Jays, the pitching will have to improve. The Sox currently have a team ERA of 4.77, which ranks them 23rd in MLB. Josh Beckett has been unusually sporadic and ineffective. Dice-K has been injured, and Lester ... well, I don’t even want to talk about Lester.

The guy has to be having fatigue problems because he has been horrible during pitches when his pitch count hits 75. Last season the lefty made retiring batters looks easy. This season he has trouble not getting us blown out.

With all of these issues, and not to mention Ortiz’s struggles, it was a veteran in vintage form who got us a close win over the division-leading Blue Jays tonight. That veteran was Tim Wakefield. The knuckleball was moving well in the win over the Jays as the 42-year-old --- yes, I said 42-year-old --- put together a gem of a game. He pitched eight full innings of five-hit, one-run baseball and then handed the game to the very capable hands of Papelbon. With the 2-1 win, the Red Sox are just one game behind the Jays in the loss column.

The overall batting was OK as the Sox small-balled their way to a 2-0 lead. The Red Sox can play many types of baseball, but they sometimes just have that "it" factor, that will to hold on and make every pitch count. The Sox have a way of coming up big when they need it most. It would be nice to see them rolling with a five-game lead or something like that, but maybe making them fight for it will pay off in the end. Maybe this sense of urgency will prepare us to play in October. --- Nick Barone.