It took the Red Sox until the 8th inning of last night’s game to put together some offense and I just hope the hitters can continue to produce.  But now that the Wild Card berth into the 2009 Playoffs is securely in hand, perhaps this is a team that needs to rest.  The offense has looked flat over the past couple of weeks and it’s difficult to pin down why a team with this much talent and success for the majority of the season has given such lackluster performances over the past few weeks.

As I have stated for the duration of the season, the success of this Red Sox team will hinge on pitching.  Buchholz poor start last night was disconcerting, but he has looked good since being called up from Triple-A in July.  I assume that he will rebound from last night’s performance and continue his success as the third starter in the Red Sox rotation, which makes the reemergence of Daisuke Matsuzaka that much more important.

Daisuke, since returning from the disabled list, has looked like the pitcher he was two years ago rather than the struggling right-hander who was lambasted in the press at the beginning of this year.  He looks to have regained his command and his confidence, as evidenced by his performance in the Bronx this weekend. Daisuke threw 115 pitches and allowed 1 run over 7 innings against aYankee lineup that features a hitter in the bottom third of the lineup (Cano) who is batting .320 with 25 homeruns.

Since his return from the disabled list on September 15th, Daisuke has an ERA less than 2.00.  Much has been made of his unorthodox new approach to warming up before the game and between innings.  While this may have an impact on his command, I think focus on 3 or 4 different pitches, rather than trying to throw his whole arsenal, has lead to his improved results.

Despite the recent struggles of the Red Sox against the Yankees, we should remember that this team went 2-1 against the Angels this month and is 6-1 against the Tigers this year.  We probably all need some rest this week, but one week from today I expect everyone to be in postseason form.

This past series against the White Sox was a split but I thought the Red played pretty good.  They ran into some tough pitching but played each game competitively and, had they been able to score some runs against the bullpen, this could have been a 4 game sweep for Boston. I think people are worried about Josh Beckett but he just hasn’t been getting run support.  Clay Buchholz is a different story; Clay needs confidence to hit spots because he has live fastball and good breaking ball.  The problem is that he gets rattled when pressure’s on causing him to guide the ball the ball to the plate.  When the velocity is not there his pitches hang. Clay has the ability and talent but his is still a little immature in his makeup.

Now Boston has a good opportunity to gain some momentum against Texas. Mike Lowell and Papi are both ready to go tonight (Lowell is here reading the paper).  They both appear healthy so this series looks good for Boston.

I just talked to Bob Montgomery and he said that Charlie Zink is not quite as good as Wakefield in terms of movement on the knuckler, but that he has the ability to get outs regardless.  What Zink needs to do is hit his locations and get swings and misses from last minute movement.  If Zink can keep the team in the game and keep the ball in the ballpark, the Sox have a good chance of getting a win tonight.

Find some momentum in this series and get some confidence going into what could be a tough series at the end of the week against Toronto.

The Patriot’s Day baseball game is always a special event.  I know that as a player, the team always looked forward to this game because we knew it was special: the early start time, the Boston Marathon, as well as the fact that it was always a home game and a tradition in Boston.

The atmosphere of this day has been enhanced in recent years by some of the wives and girlfriends getting involved and running in the marathon for charity.  I don’t remember anything like this back when I played; I think it might have started when Curt and Shonda Schilling came to town.  This has made the Marathon Monday game even more of a family event.

The team will be motivated today, and they played great through the weekend, capitalizing on every mistake the Rangers made.  Let’s hope Buchholz can bounce back after his last outing and that this ball club keeps winning.

Colon, Lester, Beckett, Buchholz, Wakefield, Matsuzaka, and Possibly Schilling. Do you see Buccholz future in the bullpen or will they send him to Pawtucket to continue to start? - Matty

I’m not in on the meetings so I can’t say for sure, but I think Clay Buchholz has a good shot to be in Boston with the big club. Baseball teams are always going to need pitchers so he will have plenty of opportunity to stay in the Majors. What Clay needs to do now is trust that he can pitch at this level and trust Tek to get him through the tough spots. He has had success and needs to keep his head above water and remain confident at the major league level.