Add It Up

I asked last week if the Astros were finished. Now I have to ask if the Boston Red Sox are done after the brutal smack down inflicted by the Yankees over the weekend.

There was a lot of gab about how Theo Epstein was to blame for not re-signing Johnny Damon and trading away Bronson Arroyo in the off-season. But from where I’m sitting, the simple reality is that the Yankees are playing like a good ball club right now, and the Red Sox aren’t.

I’m not saying the Yankees are a good ball club, mind you. They still have some issues to sort out if they want to go deep into October. But the Red Sox are just a mess.

Injuries to Jason Varitek and Trot Nixon have weakened the lineup. Coco Crisp hasn’t been as good as his press clippings made him out to be. And if Manny Ramirez is going to miss an extended period, the middle of the Boston lineup looks less than formidable.

Red Sox pitching is a train wreck, too. Red Light Curt is having a typical year, and Jonathon Papelbon has taken to the closer’s role. Do they have anyone else who inspires confidence in big game situations?

Add it all together, and it’s a team that is slowly drifting out of contention. This lost weekend left Boston six and a half games behind New York, and four games behind the White Sox for the wild card. They’re not out of it yet, but it doesn’t look good.