The time for encouraging signs is past, and so it is that the Red Sox' latest loss--a 7-6 defeat at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays--is not something that can be glossed over, made light of, or even given a silver lining.
Kevin Youkilis hit a home run, perhaps signaling an end to his long streak of walking at the expense of slugging (he did, in fact, draw a walk as well).
Dustin Pedroia hit a homer, too, and was absolutely incredible on defense all night.
And, in general, the Red Sox' offense looked competent.
None of that changes the fact that the Red Sox are 2-10, and falling.
So, what went wrong with tonight's game? The first problem was Clay Buchholz, who was never really in command of the game, even when grabbing seven pitch innings and retiring ten straight men. His fastball control--often cited as one of the most important parts of his game--was all over the place. This wasn't helped by the curious strike zone, apparently impermeable by curveballs, but it was not entirely a matter of the ref.
After dodging a bullet in the first inning when Adam Lind's homer was ruled a foul ball after review, the control finally came back to bite him in the fifth and sixth innings, with all three of the runners who scored against him having reached base via the walk. He was not helped, sadly, by the defense of Carl Crawford, who misplayed the Monster and let a ball fall for a hit against its base when he easily had a play on it.
And then came Bobby Jenks, who, through a perfectly imperfect combination of contact and luck, managed to give up four earned runs while recording only one out after being next-to-perfect in his first four outings with the team. Only a late three-run rally in the eighth saved the Sox from another blowout..
Forget about panicking or not. At this point, the streak is getting hard just to rationalize, and we're moving into despondency territory. We may not make the playoffs? Right now, it wouldn't be unreasonable for Sox fans to miss that uncertainty.