I Was One Game Off On My 0-9 Road Trip Prediction For The Red Sox

The West Coast trip from hell came to a quiet halt tonight as Boston fell 2-1 to Seattle at Safeco Field.

That wraps up a 1-8 stretch for the Red Sox (63-75, 31-37 away) while the Mariners (67-71, 36-33 home) clinched the series and basically guaranteed that they will finish with a better record in 2012 than the Red Sox. What's more, Seattle could even be .500 which is amazing when you consider the utter lack of talent they possess.

It was a battle of two guys that probably should not have jobs in MLB anymore as former Pawtucket Red Sox great Kevin Millwood (5-12) was a little better than Aaron Cook (3-9). Both went six innings but Millwood allowed one earned run on four hits with three strikeouts and three walks. Cook allowed two earned runs on seven hits with a season-high five strikeouts and three walks.

The only offense from these two punchless teams came via Dustin Ackley's two-run single in the fourth and Cody Ross' (3 hits) RBI double in the sixth.

Seattle has found a good new closer as Tom Wilhelmson struck out two in the ninth for his 24th save and the second of the series.

Boston returns home to Fenway Park and a city that is ready to eat them alive, that is if anyone is paying attention anymore since the Patriots get started for real this weekend. After an off-day tomorrow, the Red Sox and Blue Jays (61-75, 5th AL East) will find out who is the undisputed worst team in the division.

Felix Doubront (10-7) faces Henderson Alvarez (7-12) on Friday night (7:10 p.m., NESN), Daisuke Matsuzaka (1-4) opposes Ricky Romero (8-13) on Saturday night (7:10 p.m.) and best of all, Clay Buchholz (11-5) and J.A. Happ (10-11) get started at 1:35 p.m. on Sunday in the series finale that will be watched by five people (since the Patriots-Titans game starts at 1 p.m.).

If there is any justice, the Red Sox will finally acknowledge that their sham sellout streak has ended and the miserable souls that show up to these pointless games boo everything from start to finish. After another day off on Monday, they host the Yankees for three games as New York tries to hang on in the AL East.

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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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