Just not good enough

(July 18)

Short Take:  It was really bad.

What can you say, Sox Fans?  Our Pale Hose have had plenty of opportunities to climb back into the championship race.  Sure they've had some bad luck particularly with key injuries, but there can be no denying they could have climbed back in the race last May when contenders Seattle and Oakland buried them.  Strong play through June set up a showdown series with Minnesota and we blew it again.  

Now the Sox face twelve games against the two teams we absolutely must beat to win the American League wild-card and we blow it again.  It's going to be a long three months unless the Sox start playing better against the best teams.  The Sox look bad getting beat 9-4 by Cleveland.

Will this team ever deliver when it really counts?  Do they have the championship pedigree?  Sox Fans have their doubts.

Mark Buehrle got beat up but not before his team abandoned him.  A third inning rally was ruined because Royce Clayton was no longer on base when Ray Durham doubled, because Royce was in the dugout after his basestealing attempt failed with one out.  Durham never made it home because Aaron Rowand struck out.

Durham couldn't handle a grounder under his glove (no error) and the floodgates opened to a five-run fourth inning off Buehrle, the key blow a three-run dinger on the very next play.

It's pretty much a blur after that.  Besides Clayton, Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Lee were also caught in base-stealing misadventures.  You would never know we were getting blown out the way the Sox were running the bases.

Do you remember Paul Konerko getting a hit?  He didn't, going 0 for 4.  Jose Canseco earns the golden sombrero, 0 for 3 with three strikeouts.

Lee had a homerun stolen by Kenny Lofton who nonetheless is still an aging punk.  Alan Embree came into the game in the seventh and Cleveland's lead got wider.  Gee, that wasn't too predictable.  Matt Ginter was the last member of Jerry Manuel's bucket brigade to mop-up this mess.

What's that giant sucking sound?  Could it be the last of our playoff chances being flushed away?