Beauty to Breakdown in Two Seconds

Just as WMYM was trying to think of a way to incorporate beautiful, performance art and Buchholz in the same sentence, the Red Sox rookie leaves one pitch a bit too high to Akinori Iwamura, and Boston loses again.

You just can't make up the way the Sox have lost four straight games. That's now four losses by a grand total of six runs. Not a single one has come by more than two runs, and each could have been salted away earlier if the team had actually hit. At all.

That was certainly the case Saturday, when Coco Crisp essentially generated Boston's only run of the night by stealing two bases on a single wild pitch. There was no Big Papi in the lineup - he sat out with a bruised right knee (anyone else wondering if that headfirst slide into first might have had something to do with that?) - and there might as well have not been a Manny Ramirez, as senor ManRam seemed significantly out of sorts at the plate all night, a far cry from his strong Friday night performance.

Still, all that would have been forgiven if Clay Buchholz could have held on for one more batter. There was absolutely nothing to suggest he wouldn't be able to - he had struck out two straight and cruised through five straight Tampa batters before Dioner Navarro laced a single and Iwamura struck for his incredibly timely two-run homer. That hit would have stung Buchholz enough even if he had won. He had a one-hitter entering the eighth and the Rays really hadn't even gotten close to any of his offerings all night. Still, instead of improving to 2-1 with the second most impressive outing of his still young career, the young hurler who gets guys out with guile and gusto will have to face another four day stretch when he will wonder what could have been.

Unfortunately, for the fourth night in a row, his team is stuck wondering the exact same thing. In Tampa Bay, no less.

STARTING PITCHING: √+
Eight innings, three hits, two runs. It's a sparkling line and should have been a win, particularly considering the fact that Buchholz really only made one truly bad pitch all night. Unfortunately, Iwamura gave that puppy a ride, and that homer gave Buchholz's shot at a winning record a ride right out of town. To call it a rude greeting is a significant understatement.

MIDDLE RELIEF: N/A
When a kid goes eight strong, there's no need to get the 'pen up and sweeating, particularly when you're playing in a park where the 'pen itself is nonexistent and warming up makes a pitcher look like he's sweating to the oldies.

SET UP RELIEF: N/A
See above.

CLOSER: N/A
What did we just say.

LINEUP: -
Really? Edwin Jackson is that good? The most troubling thing about Boston's lineup over the four-game losing streak, bandaged though it is, has been a profound lack of patience. The Sox are swinging early in counts, with hitters taking hacks at extremely pedestrian stuff from pitchers like the aforementioned Jackson. To not get more of Matt Garza's meltdown on Friday proved to be truly criminal, and eventually cost Boston a win. Jackson was actually better on Saturday, but too many hitters chased pitches when he slipped into one of his traditional wild spells, and that spelled out another loss. Needless to say, that's not good enough, even if Ortiz, Sean Casey, Mike Lowell and others are sitting on the pine with bum bodies. Here's hoping some of them get back soon, or at least start to pull shifts for each other.

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