If the Boston Red Sox hit "rock bottom" in Bobby Valentine's words two weeks ago after blowing a nine-run lead to the Yankees, wonder what he called today? A game where the Baltimore Orioles led 8-0 in the third inning and Red Sox starter Aaron Cook (0-1) had to leave with a gruesome cut on his leg. It was all part of another forgettable game at Fenway as the O's (18-9, 10-5 away) cruised to a 8-2 win over the reeling Red Sox (11-15, 4-9 home) this afternoon.
To say that Boston is a mess would be way too generous. They've lost four in a row but bigger picture, Baltimore is 7-2 against them since last September while the Red Sox have lost nine of their last 10 at Fenway (worst 10-game stretch for them there since 1994).
This all goes back to Beckett since he couldn't possibly make another start on time after throwing a career-high 126 pitches last Sunday. Nope, instead Cook had to be called up from Pawtucket in his place. There was talk during the game too that Beckett could miss another start or two. Tell me again why the Red Sox kept this pathetic loser? Anyway, Cook got spiked when he covered home plate on a passed ball in the second inning. After getting a quick fix, he stayed in until the third inning when he couldn't go any longer. Not to mention the fact that he gave up seven runs (six earned) on eight hits in 2.2 innings with a walk and no strikeouts.
Cook reportedly had to get 11 stitches to close that gash, I'm sure Beckett never said a word to him either. Cook's struggles show how much of a jump it is from Triple A to MLB since he had been tearing it up with the PawSox in April.
It's hard to gauge whether the Orioles are really this good or simply slightly above average and the Red Sox are awful. Starter Jason Hammel (4-1) went 6.2 easy innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits with eight strikeouts and a walk.
After Chris Davis scored on Jarrod Saltalamacchia's passed ball in the second, Baltimore pushed seven across in the third. Nick Markakis and Wilson Betemit (2 hits) had RBI singles sandwiched around a two-run homer by Adam Jones (7th of the season) off Cook and a three-run bomb by Mark Reynolds (2 hits) off reliever Clayton Mortensen. Both went over The Monster, Jones' went onto the parking garage on Landsdowne Street.
The Red Sox avoided the shutout as Ryan Sweeney had an RBI double in the seventh and Cody Ross had an RBI single. Adrian Gonzalez had three hits for the second straight game but no RBIs so who cares?
This is where Boston is right now: Scott Atchison (3 scoreless innings, 1.50 ERA) is currently their best pitcher. The same guy that they sent down to Pawtucket and recalled a million times last season. Yup.
Tommy Hunter (2-1) faces Clay Buchholz (3-1) tomorrow afternoon (1:35 p.m., NESN) in the series finale and I can pretty much guarantee that Buchholz will get rocked and the Red Sox will get swept. More importantly, can I interest you in an authentic Fenway brick? Hey, let's just sing "Sweet Caroline," that'll be awesome.
UPDATE 5/6: Cook went on the DL and Andrew Miller was called up from Pawutcket.
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