Despair? You're Soaking In It

They walked off the field, heads down, eyes hidden by the brims of their caps. The dugout swallowed them as they headed to pack their suitcases for a return to Boston. It was ... a new low in a season full of them.

It was the first time Boston had been swept in a three-game series in Baltimore in 35 years (September 2-4, 1974).

The Red Sox are 11-14.

They are in fourth place.

They are 7 GB.

And this week's schedule has four games against the Angels and three against the Yankees.Dustin Pedroia:

Everyone thought Baltimore was three easy wins, and we got our asses kicked three times.

Theo Epstein:

... bad baseball. Unintelligent, undisciplined, uninspired baseball. It's got to change. It either changes itself or we have to do something to change it.

Nick Underhill, RSM:

[T]hey are either going to wake up and start playing well or sink closer to oblivion.

At Over The Monster, in a "Comprehensive Guide to April", 0157H7 asks: "Why is such a good team, at least on paper, playing so badly?"

First, he notes that the Sox are actually overperforming (!) their expected wins by one game and claims that the offense "has been fine. They are 5th in the league in runs scored."

Well, ... Boston is actually 6th in RS, and if they had scored only four fewer runs over the 25 games, they would be down to 8th. 0157H7 points out the Sox's good record when they score 5+ runs (8-3). However, for a team averaging 4.56 runs per game (an average boosted by three games of 9, 9 and 13 runs, by the way; it's 3.77 in the other 22 games), that tidbit may not offer the clearest picture of the offense.

Plus, you can turn it around and say that when the Red Sox have scored six runs or fewer, they are 4-11. By contrast, the Rays are 7-6 and the Yankees are 8-7. Only when the Sox get seven or more men across the plate is a win pretty much assured, as they are 7-1 when that happens. Tampa Bay is 11-0 and New York is 8-1.

There have been is very little late-inning heroics so far:

Red Sox record when they are tied ...

After 6 innings    2-3
After 7 innings    1-6
After 8 innings    2-5
Extra innings      1-5

The Soxaholix ask "Is It 'Still Early' Yet?":

And is this the first indication of clubhouse trouble?

A clear divide is opening between the veterans of the team's World Series and playoff runs and the new players who were acquired to bolster the club this winter. Marco Scutaro seems like the only truly assimilated player of the bunch.

Pedroia sounds like Jeter circa 2005/06 when he says, "There's a lot of guys that have been here that are not used to this."

Jonathan Papelbon:

This game is going to test you, it's going to test every last bit of your will and fortitude. ... . You can't sit here worrying about the last game. You have to move on to next game and keep grinding away.

A reminder: