The sound of coughs echoed through New England this weekend, but it wasn't from children faking illnesses to avoid going back to school. Rather, in what has become an annual event, it was the sound of the Red Sox choking.
In the last two weeks, Boston has done an excellent job of proving the validity of Murphy's law - that everything that can go wrong will. The team is muddling through its longest losing streak in seven years, a nine-game stretch. Nomar Garciaparra is back on the disabled list, and Pedro Martinez may miss his next start because of a minor tear in his rotator cuff.
Pitching coach John Cumberland is also out of commission - permanently. Red Sox GM Dan Duquette convinced manager Joe Kerrigan to fire Cumberland after just three weeks on the job, even though the pitching squad has only given up x runs in the last five games and the offense has put provided just x runs of support during the same span.
As if things weren't bad enough, a media thunderstorm broke early this week after Pedro criticized Duquette for saying that the ace pitcher was healthy and Nomar told the media that "no one wants to play for this organization." Trot Nixon accused Duquette of exercising too much control over the team, and Cumberland trashed management in an interview with the Boston Globe. Unity and optimism carried the injury-plagued Sox earlier this season, but recent days have seen the team fall apart at the seams.
In Tuesday night's 8-5 loss to the Cleveland Indians, the lack of enthusiasm from both players and fans was evident. Though 32,000 fans packed Fenway Park, their cheers were half-hearted and quiet, and the game moved slow enough to bore even the most diehard fan. The Red Sox batted around and scored three runs in the second inning, but the offense was silent for most of the game, and the pitching left something to be desired.
The Indians got the win thanks to the bat of Jim Thome, who hit his 44th and 45th homers off Boston starter Hideo Nomo. Thome leads the league in round-trippers, and his solo shot in the sixth put the Indians ahead to stay. Juan Gonzalez added to the lead with a two-run double in the seventh, and Bob Wickman pitched the ninth for his 29th save.
Boston loaded the bases with no outs against Cleveland starter Bartolo Colon in the second but scored only three runs on singles by Mike Lansing, Jose Offerman, and Scott Hatteberg. They tied the game at four in the fourth inning but failed to comeback when the Indians took control later on.
Because the Yankees also lost, the Sox, who were tied for first place in the AL East on July 22, remained nine games back in the division. The gap between the two rivals seemed surmountable a week ago, but Boston's recent slide has left New Englanders wondering how best to spend the money they had put aside for playoff tickets. The Red Sox also lost any shot they might have had at the wild card spot; they now trail Oakland by 8 1-2 games in that race.
Boston will finish its season series against Cleveland tonight and then head to New York for four more games against the Yankees. However, if Pedro is unable to make his scheduled start on Friday and the offense continues to struggle, Red Sox nation may find it a little less painful to turn its television sets to college football this weekend.
