I Know Results Don't "Matter" Anymore This Season For The Red Sox But Dear Lord

The Red Sox celebrated Labor Day 2012-the unofficial end of the summer-the only way that they know how to these days: with another forgettable defeat, their season-high seventh in a row. At this juncture, they have become that nasty turd that takes multiple flushes to get rid of; they won't just go away quietly into the night.

In the series opener, Seattle (66-70, 35-32 home) breezed past Boston (62-74, 30-36 away) 4-1 this afternoon at Safeco Field. Over their last 32 games, the Red Sox are 9-23. It's their worst 32-game stretch since August 22-October 2, 2001, when they went 8-24.

The Red Sox have been outscored 58-16 during their current 7-game losing streak which makes 0-9 on this West Coast road trip seem very likely. Conversely, the Mariners have a good chance to finish at or above .500 (which is a big accomplishment when you look at their roster) thanks to their great play at home-17-3 last 20 at Safeco.

Jason Vargas (14-9) continued to bolster his reputation as one of the most underrated starting pitchers in the American League. He went seven innings, allowing one earned run on six hits with five strikeouts and no walks. Josh Kinney had a scoreless eighth inning for his fourth hold while closer Tom Wilhelmsen wrapped up his 23rd save with a 1-2-3 ninth.

Clay Buchholz (11-5) went seven innings but he allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits with eight strikeouts and a walk.

Dustin Pedroia has become the only brightspot left for the Red Sox. He was 2 for 3 with a double, run, walk and two stolen bases. Ryan Kalish added two singles for Boston which only had six total hits.

Cody Ross drove in Pedroia with an RBI single in the first. It was all downhill from there as Seattle scored all four of its runs in the fourth inning. John Jaso and Justin Smoak had RBI singles then two runs scored on Jacoby Ellsbury's throwing error and a ground out by Carlos Peguero.

Washington state native Jon Lester (8-11) gets the ball tomorrow night (10:10 p.m., NESN) vs. Blake Beavan (9-8). I'm already falling asleep just thinking about that electrifying matchup.

UPDATE 8/4: Red Sox acquired minor-league catcher Guillermo Quiroz from the Mariners for cash considerations. He has had cups of coffee with Toronto, Texas, Baltimore and Seattle; he was added to the Red Sox roster before Tuesday's game. He hit .278 with 15 doubles and 15 home runs in 89 games with Triple-A Tacoma this season.

Additionally, Boston brought up Clayton Mortensen for the sixth time this season. Despite that number, he's earned at least a long look in next year's spring training. He's basically a younger Scott Atchison which is a compliment.

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