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.