Rangers v. Red Sox - Three Game Series

Well, with the Rangers 10-9 win in today's afternoon game at Fenway Park they also take the series from the Sox, winning two out of three.  The entire series highlighted, at least for me, how big of a lost-cause Josh Beckett has become.  I mean, giving up THAT many runs is just sickening to me and makes me wonder why the hell we didn't sell him at the trade deadline.  The Red Sox need to swallow their pride and make necessary adjustments to the starting rotation in order to preserve the opportunity for the offense to fight back.

If there's anything I've learned from this series with the Rangers is that the Red Sox can score runs. Gonzalez went three for five today, bringing his average up to .310 and bringing in three more runs to his now seventy-two total.  Middlebrooks also had a great day (despite choking in the bottom of the ninth with Cody Ross at second) with another three-run homer to tie the game in the seventh.  And I cannot believe the weight Cody Ross has carried recently, going three-for-four with a walk this past game, just a triple short of the cycle.   And once those hits keep coming, we're going to see that batting average creep up in the .300 range for sure.  He's currently batting .277 but .357 so far this month. 

In terms of other significant players, I like what Carl Crawford's been doing so far this month by really stepping up his game.  Jacoby Ellsbury, you know...it's tough to say for me because I truly honestly love this kid - I do...but he's not been playing to what the level I know he's capable of.  Last year he was a 30-30 player, runner-up MVP and hit .321 in a time of a Sox collapse.  Needless to say he left on a very good note, prior to his injury of course, but he really needs to get back in the groove, acknowledge his slump and perform at the level we all know he can perform at.  And Ortiz, where the hell did he go?  I mean, I know he's hurting and what not and what not but you'd think Valentine would AT LEAST give him a pinch hit appearance in place of Ryan Lavarnway - the worst hitter (in my opinion) on the team? 

The Red Sox sit 55-57 going into a four-game series against the 51-60 Cleveland Indians.  I just hope they can take advantage of their current slump to produce some more wins that they desperately need.