It's not time to worry, not yet anyway.
Especially not with Jon Lester starting Game Four at home, where he was 11-1 with a 2.49 ERA. The Red Sox still get another shot to close this series in Fenway Park, where they won 56 games this season, second most home wins by any team next to the Rays' 57.
But if they want to finish off the Angels, they will need to find some offense.
This game wouldn't have gone 12 innings if the Angels had just had better communication when Howie Kendrick and Torii Hunter let a Jacoby Ellsbury pop-up fall in between them to plate three Boston runs.
The fact that the Red Sox really should have only scored one run is disconcerting if not alarming. Mike Lowell doesn't really look healthy, and despite his home run in Game Two, J.D. Drew is still feeling some effects from his lingering back injury.
Couple those injuries with the struggles of David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia, the team's two best hitters, and the Red Sox are not exactly scaring opponents offensively. Pedroia still doesn't have a hit in the series, and Ortiz is only 3-for-13, although he has walked a bunch.
- B/R Ticket Guide
I expect Francona to go back to the lineup where Kevin Youkilis played third base, and Mark Kotsay played first, replacing Mike Lowell in the lineup. Kotsay had two hits in Game Two, but he doesn't provide the same protection in the lineup that a healthy Lowell would.
Unfortunately for the Red Sox, the struggling offense was not the only problem that was amplified in their loss last night.
I may have been too quick to include Javier Lopez as one of the go-to relievers for the Red Sox. He didn't look good against lefties or righties. If that outing wasn't an aberration, than the shaky Boston bullpen just got a little less deep.
The other major problem was the outing the team received from Josh Beckett. It didn't appear that the oblique injury affected Beckett, instead his ineffectiveness was the result of walks, one hanging curveball to Mike Napoli, and a fastball that lacked some of that trademark bite.
There is good news for the Red Sox as well. The Angels continue to look more like a team that won 80 games than the team that won 100. Lack of communication in the outfield, continued base-running blunders, and continued struggles with runners in scoring position were all put under the microscope in this pivotal Game Three.
The other good news for the Red Sox is that Jon "The Innings-Eater" Lester is going back to the mound. Lester was dominant in Game One, striking out seven and allowing only one unearned run, and I am sure Francona would enjoy watching a similar performance from Lester in Game Four, especially considering the lack of offensive production.
The Red Sox would love to give Lester some breathing room early, and if they can chase John Lackey early in the game, the Angels' best relievers have all been worked hard in the past two games and would be susceptible to patient hitting. But that will only happen if Boston's offense starts to play the way it can.
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3 months ago
The Angels smell blood. They've proven to themselves that they can win a playoff game in Boston and I'd look for them to come out strong tomorrow night. If this series returns to Anaheim, you can bet the Red Sox will be flying home for the winter...
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