Red Sox down, but they're not out yet
Boston Red Sox's Carl Crawford, top, celebrates with Kevin Youkilis after Crawford drove in the winning run in the 11th inning gainst the Minnesota Twins in a baseball game at Fenway Park. (May 9, 2011) Credit: AP
It's been a weird and disappointing start to the season for the Boston Red Sox, which might explain the lack of hype surrounding the beginning of their three-game series this weekend at Yankee Stadium.
Still, when it comes to great sports rivalries, it's hard to beat Yankees-Red Sox. And the Yankees know the weekend is an important one, even if the Red Sox (17-20) are four games behind them.
"They're still a really good team," said CC Sabathia, who is slated to pitch Saturday night against Josh Beckett. "They're still a team that to win the division, we have to beat. We know the importance of trying to beat them and how big these games are."
Many considered the Red Sox the favorite to win the American League pennant after they signed high-profile outfielder Carl Crawford to a $142-million contract and added first baseman Adrian Gonzalez in a trade with the Padres. But Boston got off to its worst start since 1945, losing its first six games before taking two of three from the Yankees at Fenway Park.
Though things have gotten much better since then, thanks in part to an 8-1 stretch in the middle of April, the Red Sox still are struggling to find their identity and win on a consistent basis.
There are some indications that the series means a lot to the Red Sox. The biggest is that Clay Buchholz, Beckett and Jon Lester -- Boston's top three starting pitchers -- are scheduled to face the Yankees, with Daisuke Matsuzaka's next start pushed back to Monday in Baltimore. Bartolo Colon, Sabathia and Freddy Garcia are scheduled to pitch for the Yankees.
The Red Sox also believe that their situation is temporary, that 37 games are not a fair indicator of how good this team is going to be.
"We're not putting it all together," Dustin Pedroia told reporters after Boston's 9-3 loss in Toronto on Wednesday. "We pitch good one day, we don't hit. Hit good the next day, we don't pitch. To be a good team, you have to put it all together.
"Guys are going to figure it out. I'm not going to hit. 240. [Kevin Youkilis is] not going to hit .240. Carl Crawford's not going to hit .210 . . . It's not going to happen."
A good showing this weekend could go a long way toward helping the Red Sox find themselves, but Nick Swisher says that's not something he has thought about.
"We're not paying too much attention to what they're doing," Swisher said. "It's like hey, we've got enough problems over here."
Which is not to say he isn't looking forward to the weekend. Said Swisher: "When you talk about rivalry games, who cares what the records are? It's always going to be a battle."
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