I, for one, am tired.
I'm tired of losing streaks. This is the third time the Red Sox have lost four or more this year.
I'm tired of watching the Rays creep closer in the standings and of this see-saw for first with the Yankees.
Right now, though, I'm most tired of watching the Sox put man after man on base, bringing a big-offense lineup to the National League, and somehow coming away with far less than they should.
The difference in today's game was that the Red Sox' three home runs came with no men on, and the Pirates got one big three-run shot from Lyle Overbay, professional Red Sox.
Actually, I should amend. that, because the Red Sox were by-and-large outplayed today. After taking a 2-0 lead thanks to some small ball from Dustin Pedroia and Adrian Gonzalez in the first, and some large ball from, again, Gonzalez in the third, Tim Wakefield fell apart as he is so often wont to do After giving up an infield single (on a hard-hit ball, to be sure), he allowed a walk to Neil Walker, and then gave up the huge blast to Lyle Overbay. Then there was a double from Ronny Cedeno, and--embarrassments of embarrassments--an RBI single from Pirates pitcher Jeff Karstens.
The fun continued some in the fifth, as the Pirates picked up an infield single on Marco Scutaro's weak arm, a loud double thanks to a flat knuckleball, and finally a run when Dustin Pedroia pulled a Bill Buckner.
The Sox fought back, picking up a pair of homers from Josh Reddick (who has earned himself another start tomorrow according to Terry Francona) and Jacoby Ellsbury, but it wasn't enough. Matt Albers gave up another bomb, and the Red Sox stranded more runners. Even with Darnell McDonald out of the lineup, the Sox found a way, with the let down du jour being Marco Scutaro, who left five men on.
After their last four game losing streak, the Sox went 14-2 leading into, of course, this losing streak. Now all we can hope for is that they'll make up for this one in similar fashion.