This is when you know EVERYTHING is going wrong. EVERYTHING.
Price?
Price is a mush. I expected him to suck. He’s postseason poison. Dude is now 0-8 in postseason starts. And you knew, if by some horrible twist of fate, Porcello choked in Game 1, there was no chance Price was going to step up and save the day, right?
I was hoping he’d prove me wrong. Believe me, nothing would have pleased me more than to be sitting here right now penning an open love letter to David Price. But, no, David Price did exactly what I feared David Price would do — what we ALL feared David Price would do: He peed down his leg.
If only we had a lefty ace we could really count on. You know, the kind of guy who has a history of coming up big in the postseason. Someone who might even pitch, say, eight shut-out innings in Game 1 of a 2016 division series.
“If you think about pitchers who’ve sort of pitched at an ace level, particularly in the postseason, they are typically earlier in their career.”
—Ben Cherington trying to justify the Red Sox’s decision to let Jon Lester get away (Boston.com, December 2014)
Well, what do you suggest we do, Ben? Oh, wait! I have a great idea! Let’s give $95 million to this guy!
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Aaaaaannnd I’m back! Sorry ’bout that; needed a few minutes to clean up my laptop … after my head exploded all over it.
Back to my original point: None of us can be surprised that Price stunk up the joint … but Pedey letting a routine, double-play-inducing grounder slip through the five hole? No. Not possible. That happens only if the Universe hates you and your team and thusly decides that the laws of physics shall no longer apply.
Well, screw you, Universe! We don’t need physics … because we have the best offense in Major League Baseball!
Here’s a little snippet from an article NESN published last Monday — you know, back when we were all budgeting for this year’s World Series cap and shirt and goosebump-inducing Blu-ray:
The Red Sox Had The Best Offense In Baseball This Year, And It Wasn’t Close
The Red Sox’s offense was the most dominant in baseball this season, and we have proof: Boston led all of Major League Baseball in 10 major offensive categories: at-bats, runs scored, hits, doubles, total bases, RBIs, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS. The club’s run differential (plus-184) also was the best in baseball by 33 runs.
Yeah, baby! That’s what I’m talking about! We can’t lose when the boys are swinging that kind of lumber! We’re gonna kick some major — Huh? What’s that? Oh yeah, that’s right: In the first two games of this series, “the most dominant offense in baseball” went 13-for-65 (.200) and struck out 22 times.
- Dustin Pedroia: 1-for-8, four strikeouts
- Mookie Betts: 1-for-6, two strikeouts
- Xander Bogaerts: 1-for-8, four strikeouts
- Jackie Bradley Jr.: 0-for-6, five strikeouts
- David Ortiz: 1-for-8
So now we’re down 0-2 and the sky is falling and there’s a really good chance we’re not getting out of this ALDS alive … in which case my Seasonal Affective Disorder will be kicking in about a month earlier than I’d hoped.
But, listen, I’m not giving up on our guys. We’ve seen them do this before … and, truth be told, it’s way more exciting when they come back from the brink than it is when they just run away with it. (Confession: If they were just running away with this one, I’d be sitting here typing “I know it’s way more exciting when they come back from the brink than it is when they just run away with it, but, hot damn, I’m really happy they’re just running away with this one!”)
Let’s finish with some positive affirmations, shall we?
The @RedSox are the only team in postseason history to win multiple 5-game series after trailing 2-0 (1999 ALDS, 2003 ALDS).
— Baseball Tonight (@BBTN) October 8, 2016
See? They can do this.
Also? Han-Ram is fired up:
Of course we can do this, especially for our Papi! Let's f'n go #RedSoxNation!!! keep the faith, Stay #BostonStrong 👊🏾
— Hanley Ramirez (@HanleyRamirez) October 8, 2016
Hell yes.
Go Sox!
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