Spring comes to Red Sox September

September 29, 11:33 AMBoston Baseball ExaminerSteve Weissman

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Boston Baseball Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

The Boston Red Sox lost to the Toronto Blue Jays by a score of 11-5 at Fenway Park last night, and the game-shortening rainstorm notwithstanding, the contest felt an awful lot like a spring tilt at City of Palms.

The comparison was drawn even before the first pitch was thrown, when intended Sox starter Josh Beckett was scratched (back spasms) and replaced by rookie Michael Bowden, who in best young-phenom style fumbled the chance to show what he can do. It deepened in the fifth when old friend Kevin Millar manned third base for the Jays, and it took full flight in the seventh when Joey Gathright and Brian Anderson took positions in the Sox outfield. Never mind that the score had the look of a mid-March scrimmage.

Fortunately for supporters of the Boston nine, the outcome was nearly as meaningless as any spring result. True, the Red Sox have not yet clinched a post-season berth and a win at least would have secured them a wild-card tie. But it is unlikely that the rival Texas Rangers will win out while the Sox drop the remainder of their schedule – and this is the only way the playoffs will fall off the Sox table.

No one is suggesting that the current losing streak is fun or acceptable, but the Red Sox currently are less concerned with winning per se than they are with positioning themselves for the post-season – exactly how they planned it way back in the spring.