Man on third, 2 outs in the 9th, down one run, and Julio Lugo steps to the plate. Julio. Lugo. Hey Francona…can we get a pinch hitter here? No? Well, I guess Lugo did manage to elevate the ball, and hit a soft liner to end the game, instead of a soft ground ball.
So now we’re 1 ½ games out of first, which, with 80 games left in the season, isn’t really a big deal. It’s a good story for baseball, but as a Sox fan, it’s just mildly embarrassing. The truth is, the Sox picked a bad time to slump. We dropped two of three to the Cards, two of three to the Astros, and now thanks to last night, we’re on a three game skid. If Wakefield didn’t have a ridiculous winning percentage against the Rays in there home (he’s only lost one game at the Trop)…I’d be very worried about a sweep. A rehabilitant Dice man just isn’t a good matchup against Kazmir, who has always given the Sox a hard time.
So, assuming we get out of Tampa with only a 1 ½ game deficit, we then go to Yankee Stadium, where Giambi and his mustache have the Yankees only 6 ½ games back (of the Rays…), meaning they’re only 5 games behind the Sox. If we don’t win 2 of the 3 games against the Yankees, not only are Rays going to pull away, but the Yankees will be nipping at our heels.
Not a good way to go into the All-Star break.
