Are the Red Sox in Trouble?
Murray Chass writes in the Times that the Sox are "a poor excuse for a good baseball team." Failing to put the Yankees away when the New York team was playing terribly, the Sox, Chass argues, have squandered their lead and are now at serious risk of not making the playoffs at all.
Chass is right; it's remarkable that the Yankees did not fall out of the race when they were playing with Melky Cabrera, Bubba Crosby and Miguel Cairo instead of Hideki Matsui, Gary Sheffield and Robinson Cano. The Sox during that time went without injury to any of their starters (although pitcher David Wells has been hurt). Now the Yankees made some smart moves at the trade deadline, while the Red Sox stood pat—and then catcher Jason Varitek, having a sub-par season but still a great team leader, got hurt and will miss at least a month. Adding insult to injury, the Sox starting pitching has picked
a bad time to fall into a slump.
Sox fans should be nervous...but then, this is the Yankees and the Red Sox. Anything can happen, and probably will.
