Pirates 8, Red Sox 4

 

It's not just the losing, although the losing is plenty bad in and of itself, but it's losing to last-place teams like the A's and the Blue Jays and now the Pirates.

The first week of August, the Red Sox went 6-0 against the first-place Dodgers and White Sox, and then the second week they went 1-5 against those aforementioned last-place teams. During the first week of August, the Sox scored 54 runs. During the second week, they scored 25.  

Last night, big Jake Bennett have up four runs on five hits, including one HR, in four innings.  The usually reliable Boston bullpen gave up four more runs, including another homer. Offensively, Nick Sogard got a pair of RBIs and Yoshida made things look kind of interesting with a two-run single in the top of the ninth, but other than that, the offense continues to look lifeless.

So here's the deal, this shit's gotta stop and gotta stop now. Tonight, the Red Sox are playing their ace and starting Sonny Gray (14-3, 2.79). Gray was let down by the lack of Boston scoring in his last start, a 2-1 loss to the Jays, but struck out eight White Sox batters on August 5  On the other side, the Pirates are starting Jared Jones (2-4, 5.03). In his last two starts, Jones gave up eight hits, three runs and two homers against the Brewers and then a career-high eight runs against the Mets, not lasting more than four innings in either game. 

But as we've seen this second week of August, it doesn't matter who's on the mound if the Red Sox aren't hitting. We need some hits and some run production and we need it now. So by the power invested in me by Caesar Augustus, patron saint of this hothouse month, I hereby command the Boston batters to launch baseballs out of PNC Park and into the Allegheny starting tonight. Hit them out of the park and over the Roberto Clemente Bridge, even all the way to the Andy Warhol and Rachel Carson Bridges. Just hit, baby.