Red Sox Crushed

Red Sox fans were hoping their team would use this Yankees series to make a statement.

They did so, but not in the way we hoped.

Almost nothing went right as the Yankees flattened the Red Sox 14-3. The pitching, the defense, the lineup, even the weather were all awful.

The first blame of the game went to Adrian Beltre, who had another disastrous night at 3rd. He was only credit with 1 error (throwing the ball away trying to rush a double play that was obviously impossible), but was probably responsible for giving up about 4 outs over the course of the game. Bill Hall contributed his own mishap in the 3rd inning, allowing a very catchable ball to go over his glove as he misplayed the Monster.

The second blame (third, if you count Hall) belongs to Clay Buchholz, who got wild in spurts, allowing 5 walks, and just didn't pitch very intelligently, giving batters pitches to hit while well ahead in the count. While only half of the 6 earned runs were really his fault, he certainly did not pitch well today.

And the third blame really belongs to Beltre again, who managed to go 0-4 to match his horrible defensive performance, leaving 5 men on base.

The Red Sox needed this series badly. Now that the Yankees have clinched it, things are looking very bad for the Sox' season.

Game Notes:

• 13 baserunners leads to 3 runs. Another night where the sustained rally was out of reach.
• A long rain delay in the 5th knocked out both starters, though Clay would likely have been gone anyways.
• Ramon Ramirez left the game with an elbow injury shortly after allowing a home run, and without recording an out.
• C.C. Sabathia plunked Dustin Pedroia in "retaliation" for Beckett's hit batsmen yesterday. Victor Martinez made him pay by hitting a 2-run homer, giving the Sox a very short-lived lead.
• Mark Teixeira hit 3 home runs today in his continuing quest to become the most hated man in Boston.
• Jonathan Van Every hit the mound again tonight. He gave up Mark Teixeira's third homer, but hey, he struck a guy out too!