Slumping Red Sox Are 11-16 Since July 6; Announcing The Cleveland Guardians

I returned home from vacation late yesterday evening. During my time in Oregon and California, the Red Sox went 6-9 and dropped 3.5 games in the standings, falling out of first place in the AL East.

Today, the Red Sox managed only two singles in a 1-0 (seven-inning) loss to the Blue Jays in the first game of a doubleheader. Matt Barnes wasted six shutout innings from Nick Pivetta by allowing a game-losing home run on his first pitch. The Red Sox won the second game 2-1. They are now 3.0 GB (and 11-16 since July 6), still in second place, but the Yankees are close behind (5.5 GB).

The Red Sox have been outscored 24-59 in their last ten games. In the team's last 11 games (prior to Saturday's doubleheader), the starting rotation's ERA was 8.40.

Also, J.D. Martinez (an apparent anti-vaxxer who is afraid to publicly state his opinion, opting instead to incorrectly describe his refusal of the vaccine as a "personal decision") was placed on the Covid IL. Martinez has hit .145/.175/.236 in his last 14 games.

The Cleveland baseball team announced last month that, beginning in 2022, it will be known as the Cleveland Guardians.

I did not understand the relevance of this name until I learned (via Twitter) that the Hope Memorial Bridge located near the team's home field features beautiful (and iconic) art deco statues called the "Guardians of Traffic".

For Wilbur Watson, the bridge's engineer, the figures, carved from 43-foot-tall slabs of local Berea sandstone, "typify the spirit of progress in transportation". The bridge opened in 1932.

Racist, reality-denying seditionists treated the announcement as the end of civilization. Of course. (Contrary to several rumors in February 2021, the War on Mr. Potatohead did not destroy the Republic.)